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The Nasdaq Composite index closed at a new record high on Friday, but US blue chip stocks and oil fell amid renewed concerns over COVID-19, which also strengthened safe havens such as the US dollar.

Exness loginexperts believe the surge in the high-tech Nasdaq came as investors worried about renewed quarantine after Austria announced new restrictions to deal with growing cases and fears that Germany could follow suit.

Banks and travel companies bore the brunt of the losses as investors worried about lower economic activity if cases rise and jumped to safer havens in tech stocks.

"This is a normal time to give up risk. And in this case there is so much liquidity that the market is not going to fall - it's just that people are taking risks by going into safe havens," said Jay Hatfield, chief executive of Infrastructure Capital. Management in New York. "Right now COVID-19 is kind of the headline of the day. Every trade in the market is now managed by COVID."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average index ended the week down 0.75%, ending its fourth week of declines in five. The S&P 500 lost 0.14% and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.4% to close above 16,000 points for the first time.

The MSCI World Stock Index, which tracks stocks in 45 countries, fell 0.28%.

Renewed fears over COVID also contributed to oil prices falling more than 3% after the sector had already struggled with fears of lower demand and the potential release of crude inventories to depress gas prices.

Brent crude fell 3.47% to $78.42 a barrel, while US crude fell 3.67% to $76.11 a barrel. Both indicators fell for four consecutive weeks for the first time since March 2020.

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The return of fears over COVID-19 has led to a rise in safe havens.

Long-term US Treasury bond yields fell on Friday due to increased demand. The 10-year bond yield was last at 1.545% after falling to 1.515%, its lowest level since 10 November.

The dollar rose after Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller called for more rapid cuts in economic support to tighten the central bank's monetary policy. Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida said separately that it may be appropriate to consider a faster unwinding when the Fed meets to set policy in mid-December.

The dollar index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.51% to 96.029. The dollar rose about 1% for the week, while the euro hit a 16-month low.

The dollar's rise came at the expense of gold. Spot gold prices fell 0.62% to $1,846.91 an ounce.

"Gold prices are down after some hawkish remarks from the Fed about accelerating rate cuts boosted the dollar," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at brokerage OANDA.

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