U.S. stocks traded higher midway through Friday, led by the Nasdaq Composite, which rose 1.27% to 27,212.06. The Dow gained 0.45% to 51,157.95 and the S&P 500 advanced 0.79% to 7,726.77. Consumer discretionary shares led sector gains, while health care stocks declined. Alpha Modus Holdings surged 213% after closing a bitcoin-funded private placement and regaining Nasdaq listing compliance. Synaptics rose after agreeing to be acquired by onsemi, while Applied Digital gained after bringing 75 megawatts of AI infrastructure online. Integra Lifesciences fell after warning flooding would hurt third-quarter revenue, while Seagate Technology and Western Digital dropped amid reports of Toshiba’s planned expansion of hard-disk-drive production for AI data centers. U.S. payroll growth was weaker than expected in September, and factory orders rose 0.1% in August.