Bulls remained in control of blue chips midday Friday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average marched higher, adding another 280 points, or 0.6%. Other indexes were mixed on the stock market today.
The S&P 500 trimmed its gains to 0.2% but the tech-weighted Nasdaq traded unchanged. Both indexes are holding support at their 21-day exponential moving averages.
Nvidia (NVDA) fell further as the day progressed. Shares are falling from a record high in post-earnings action but remain in a buy zone. Alphabet (GOOGL) fell to the 200-day moving average amid more bad news for the company.
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Volume on the NYSE and the Nasdaq was lower compared with the same time on Thursday.
Small caps outperformed as the Russell 2000 jumped 1.4%. The Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) rose 0.2%.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell three basis points to 4.40%.
A few stocks broke out. Copart (CPRT) gapped up and broke out past a handle buy point of 58.16. The auto auction company beat October-quarter sale and profit expectations.
Burlington (BURL) broke out at 279.51 from a cup-with-handle base. The retailer will report its third quarter results on Tuesday, making a purchase on the breakout riskier.
In footwear, Deckers (DECK) gapped out of a cup with handle with a buy point of 182.26. Volume was heavy.
Household products maker Clorox (CLX) edged into its buy zone from a buy point of 169.09. But volume was mild and the relative strength line is lagging.
10:50 a.m. ET
Stock Market Checks Economic Reports
In economic news, the Purchasing Managers’ Index for November rose to 55.3 from October’s 54.1 reading. The manufacturing index met estimates of 48.8 and the services index rose to 57. Economists had expected the services index at 55.1.
Consumer sentiment, according to the University of Michigan’s Survey came in at 71.8 vs. views of 73 for November. Inflation expectations for the upcoming year met views and tapered to 2.6% after October’s 2.7%.
In crypto news, bitcoin rose near an all-time high and just below the $100,000 mark. Late Thursday, SEC Commissioner Gary Gensler said he plans to step down. Gensler brought new regulations to the crypto industry but also allowed spot bitcoin ETFs.
Nvidia Stock Eases
Among the Magnificent Seven stocks, Nvidia fell but remained in a buy zone that goes up to 147.80 from its buy point of 140.76.
Alphabet failed a test of the 50 day moving average Thursday and lost another 1% in morning trading. Shares are finding support at their 200-day moving average, however. The stock suffered a steep fall on Thursday on news that the Department of Justice may ask the search giant to sell its Chrome business.
On Friday, The Information reported that OpenAI is planning on its own web browser that would have a chat feature. That would compete with Chrome.
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Amazon.com (AMZN) hovered just below a buy point of 202.20, down 0.5% in morning trading. The e-commerce and cloud giant increased its AI stake by investing another $4 billion in Anthropic. Anthropic will use Amazon Web Services (AWS) to train its generative AI models. Amazon has a total of $8 billion invested in the AI company.
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NetApp (NTAP) jumped after its quarterly report. Earnings of $1.87 per share on $1.66 billion in sales were higher than analysts’ estimates of $1.78 in per share earnings and sales of $1.65 billion.
Shares of the data storage leader rallied for four days ahead of the report and broke out from past a buy point of 135.01 on Friday. However, the stock reversed lower one hour into the session.
Intuit (INTU) fell over 4% after it announced quarterly results. Revenue rose 10% to $3.3 billion while earnings per share for its fiscal first quarter rose just 1% to $2.50 per share. But the company’s guidance for the current quarter disappointed. For the full year, the tax software maker maintained its revenue outlook of $18.26 billion and earnings of $19.26 per share at the midpoint.
On Tuesday, shares fell 5% to the 50 day moving average amid news that President-elect Donald Trump’s “Government of Efficiency” planned a tax-filing app that could compete with Intuit’s software.
Elastic (ESTC) was also an earnings mover. Shares soared over 20% after earnings and sales topped views, but the chart looks weak. The database software play has a Relative Strength Rating of just 22.
In retail, Gap (GAP) rose after its third quarter report. Sales of $3.8 billion rose 2% while earnings per share of 72 cents was 22% higher. Shares rose headed into earnings on Thursday and soared past the August high of 25.40 before paring gains.
Ross Stores (ROST) soared 10% but also trimmed gains. Sales of $5.1 billion were 3% higher than the prior year and earnings of $1.48 per share increased 11%.
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