NEW YORK, May 22 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting a record high during the session, as investors welcomed signs of progress in talks aimed at ending the conflict in the Middle East, as well as a strong corporate earnings season.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index posted gains for the eighth consecutive week, its longest winning streak since a nine-week run that ended in December 2023.

Most semiconductor stocks led the latest gains on Wall Street. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose, driven by gains in Qualcomm, while Nvidia's stock declined.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said today that the United States has made some progress toward reaching an agreement with Iran, but more work needs to be done. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said that significant differences remain between the two sides.

"The earnings season has looked really good, and the economic data, with a few exceptions, has looked pretty great, so the picture looks really strong," said James St. Aubin, chief investment officer at Ocean Park Asset Management in Santa Monica, California.

He added, "The war was a major obstacle on the road, at least for the stock market, but I think today's headlines looked encouraging, and that may have made a marginal contribution."

Preliminary data indicates that the S&P 500 closed up 27.84 points, or 0.36 percent, at 7,473.56, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 50.87 points, or 0.20 percent, to 26,346.27. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also advanced 294.90 points, or 0.59 percent, to 50,580.56.

Shares of US computer manufacturers rose following strong results from China's Lenovo Group, which announced a 27 percent jump in quarterly revenue, exceeding expectations.

Dell Technologies hit an all-time high, and HP shares rose.

Shares in Workday rose after the human resources software provider beat expectations for its first-quarter revenue and earnings.