Stocks fell Friday after a record-setting session a day earlier, with stocks taking a pause after strong earnings results and more encouraging economic data helped fuel the latest leg higher in risk assets. Still, however, the three major indexes posted strong gains for the month of April.

The S&P 500 dropped about 0.7%, after the index closed at an all-time high of more than 4,200 on Thursday. The index's monthly gain came out to 5.2%, or its best since its nearly 11% rise in November 2020. The Dow and Nasdaq each also retreated during Friday's session. However, the Dow was still up more than 2.5% in April, while the Nasdaq gained more than 5%.

Shares Amazon (AMZN) bucked the trend and jumped to a record high after reporting first-quarter results and current-quarter guidance that exceeded expectations, with online shopping still booming even as more in-person businesses reopen. Shares of Twitter (TWTR), on the other hand, sank after its current-quarter revenue guidance fell short of estimates, disappointing investors who had hoped to see a stronger pick-up in the company's ad sales to match trends seen at peer social media companies like Snap (SNAP) and Facebook (FB). Overall, companies comprising about two-thirds of the S&P 500 market capitalization have so far reported results, and 84% of these have topped estimates, according to data from Credit Suisse analyst Jonathan Golub.

Equities have climbed to new highs this week amid these signs of rebounding corporate profits and economic activity, and after more dovish messaging from the Federal Reserve. A new report Thursday showed U.S. gross domestic product increased at a 6.4% annualized rate in the first quarter, bringing overall output within striking distance of its pre-pandemic levels.

Though concerns over rising inflation during the economy and possible eventual tax hikes remain, investors have at least temporarily set aside these fears until more developments emerge on both fronts.

"The economic backdrop is still very encouraging. I think there's a lot of really strong tailwinds behind this recovery, whether it's the vaccination story, the fiscal stimulus story, and very clearly an earnings season that's done very well," Jack Manley, JPMorgan Asset Management global market strategist, told Yahoo Finance. "But it wouldn't necessarily surprise me if markets moved more or less sideways moving forward."

"I think what we're going to see, as we've seen throughout the course of this year, is a continued story of winners versus losers," he added. "So we still have to be careful about security selection, about sector selection, moving forward. And to me, I think a lot of that has to do with this continued rotation into some of the more cyclical parts of the market."

Others struck a similar tone.

"This positive backdrop does not mean that the current period of low volatility will persist. We expect bouts of market turbulence, as investors fret over rising inflation and the uneven global progress in combating the pandemic," Mark Haefele, chief investment officer of global wealth management at UBS, wrote in a note Thursday. "With global stocks close to record highs, the market is also likely to be vulnerable to disappointing news on the economy or COVID-19."

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4:03 p.m. ET: S&P 500 posts best monthly gain since November

Stocks ended the session lower but still closed out a winning month. Here's where the three major indexes settled on Friday:

• S&P 500 (^GSPC): -30.30 points (-0.72%) to 4,181.17

• Dow (^DJI): -185.51 points (-0.54%) to 33,874.85

• Nasdaq (^IXIC): -119.86 points (-0.85%) to 13,962.68

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3:05 p.m. ET: Technology remains 'the largest single growth trend of our lifetime' despite recent rotation to cyclicals: CIO

For the year-to-date, technology stocks have underperformed against cyclical and value stocks, as investors turned away from last year's leaders and instead toward companies that would likely benefit most from a broad-based economic reopening.

However, some strategists urged investors not to take for granted the future growth potential of technology companies in light of their recent underperformance.

"These things aren't even remotely priced into their future growth. Technology is the largest single growth trend of our lifetime, and as the world reengages, the decisions you make now set the trends for your portfolio for the next 5, 10 even 20 years," Keith Fitz-Gerald, Fitz-Gerald Group Chief Investment Officer, told Yahoo Finance on Friday.

“The world needs what they make, the world has to have what they make, and everybody, for example in the gig economy, uses what they make," he added. "We're talking about a time when only 30% of the cloud activity reflects the world we do. Imagine what that does when it goes to 50%, 60%, 70% a couple of years from now. The numbers are going to explode."

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11:53 a.m. ET: Stocks hold lower as energy, tech sectors lag

The three major indexes extended losses heading into the afternoon session on Friday, with the energy, materials and information technology sectors contributing most heavily to the S&P 500's 0.6% dip. The consumer discretionary sector rose as shares of Amazon reached a record intraday high after the company posted strong quarterly results.

Chevron lagged in the Dow after the oil major reported quarterly profit that plunged compared to last year, with its downstream operations especially hit by ongoing pandemic-related impacts and inclement weather, even as rising energy prices helped bolster cash flow.

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9:30 a.m. ET: Stocks open lower

Here's how markets opened Friday morning:

• S&P 500 (^GSPC): -24.25 points (-0.58%) to 4,179.25

• Dow (^DJI): -168 points (-0.49%) to 33,783.00

• Nasdaq (^IXIC): -108.66 points (-0.77%) to 13,973.68

• Crude (CL=F): +$1.45 (-2.23%) to $63.56 a barrel

• Gold (GC=F): +$2.00 (+0.11%) to $1,770.30 per ounce

• 10-year Treasury (^TNX): -0.7 bps to yield 1.633%

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9:02 a.m. ET: Employment costs rose more than expected in the first quarter

Employment costs increased more than expected in the first three months of the year amid a pick-up in wages, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

The quarterly employment cost index rose 0.9% in the first quarter, coming in faster than the 0.7% anticipated, based on Bloomberg consensus data. This followed a 0.7% increase in the fourth-quarter employment cost index.

The rise came amid a 1.0% increase in wages and salaries, extending an advance of 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Benefits rose 0.6% quarter-over-quarter, representing a similar gain compared to the prior quarter.

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8:35 a.m. ET: Personal income surges by the most on record in March following fiscal stimulus

Personal income soared by the most ever recorded last month, with historic levels of fiscal stimulus helping increase consumer spending power.

Personal income jumped 21.1% in March over February, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said Friday. This came in better than the 20.3% rise expected, according to Bloomberg consensus data. This followed a drop of 7.0% in February that was mostly attributed to some payback after the January round of stimulus checks.

Personal spending also increased more than expected last month, gaining 4.2% versus the 4.1% gain expected. The personal saving rate, or percentage that personal savings comprises of disposable personal income, climbed to 27.6%, the second-highest on record after April 2020's rate of 33.7%.

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7:17 a.m. ET Friday: Stock futures point to a lower open

Here's where markets were trading before the opening bell Friday morning:

• S&P 500 futures (ES=F): 4,178.00, down 25.5 points or 0.6%

• Dow futures (YM=F): 33,780.00, down 171 points or 0.5%

• Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): 13,854.00, down 99.5 points or 0.71%

• Crude (CL=F): -$1.21 (-1.86%) to $63.80 a barrel

• Gold (GC=F): +$1.20 (+0.07%) to $1,769.50 per ounce

• 10-year Treasury (^TNX): -0.2 bps to yield 1.638%

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6:03 p.m. ET Thursday: Stock futures drift lower after S&P 500 hits record high

Here's where markets were trading Thursday evening:

• S&P 500 futures (ES=F): 4,200.75, down 2.75 points or 0.07%

• Dow futures (YM=F): 33,7927.00, down 24 points or 0.07%

• Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): 13,943.5, down 10 points or 0.07%

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Emily McCormick is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter: @emily_mcck

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