US stock markets finished mixed on Friday, with the Dow and the S&P 500 hitting fresh peaks, while the Nasdaq slipped slightly following Thursday's Nvidia-fuelled surge.

The Dow Jones, America's blue-chip index, rose 0.2 percent to end the day at a record high of 39,131.

The S&P 500 was barely positive for the day, rising by well under 0.1 percent. Nevertheless, it inched higher to a new record of 5,088.

The Nasdaq slipped by 0.3 percent to 15,996 – a day after surging by 3.0 percent following strong earnings results from chipmaker Nvidia.

"The euphoria with Nvidia is causing a momentum to buy," said Peter Cardillo from Spartan Capital.

Amid individual firms, car sales company Carvana's share price surged more than 32 percent after it reported its first ever annual profit.

And the cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks saw its share price rise more than 5.3 percent – reversing some of the dramatic 30 percent decline that occurred on Wednesday after it cut its revenue forecast. (AFP)