The Dow Jones and other major indexes were mixed in late afternoon action Friday as Nvidia rose on more bullish views from Wall Street and Tesla weakened over lower factory output in China. Meanwhile, lawmakers worked to avert a government shutdown and earnings from Nike and Lululemon put a dent in retail stocks on the Stock Market today.
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6%. The blue chip index rose to a record high on Thursday but pared those gains by closing time. According to Investors Intelligence, the seasonal strength following the Ides of March, or March 15, may already be factored into the market, setting up a higher possibility for more “chop and churn.”
The S&P 500 was off 0.1% after it also hit a record high Thursday. Tech and communication services sectors took the lead while a fall in Treasury yields didn’t appear to help real estate, which lagged among the S&P 500 sectors.
The Nasdaq gained 0.1%. But the tech-heavy index showed stalling action on Thursday after early gains vaporized. Small caps on the Russell 2000 fell 1.1% Friday afternoon.
House Speaker Mike Johnson‘s plans to avert a government shutdown at midnight appeared to be successful. The House passed a $1.2 trillion bill which now goes before the Senate, but the measure prompted mutiny from some Republican lawmakers.
Decliners Beating Advancers
Though volume on the New York Stock Exchange and on the Nasdaq was lighter on the stock market today compared with the same time on Thursday, bears held a vice-like grip with decliners outnumbering advancers by nearly 2-to-1 on both exchanges.
The Innovator IBD 50 (FFTY) exchange traded fund suffered a 0.6% fall while the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note dropped 5 basis points to 4.22%.
Among the Magnificent Seven, Nvidia (NVDA) rose more than 2% after UBS analysts saw more growth after its artificial intelligence conference that ended Thursday. Nvidia is a holding in Investor’s Business Daily’s model portfolio, IBD Leaderboard.
Meanwhile, Tesla (TSLA) fell further below the 50-day moving average on the stock market today as it announced cuts in output at its Shanghai plant. The news raises fears of even slower demand for electric vehicles in China and Europe.
Dow Jones Stocks: Apple, Disney, Merck
Apple (AAPL) recovered from its steep sell-off on Thursday and gained 0.9%. The iPhone maker faces an antitrust suit by the Justice Department. Analysts “do not expect any business model changes for now.”
Disney (DIS) fell while Merck (MRK) rose. Both stocks are in buy zones from proper buy points, according to IBD MarketSurge pattern recognition tools.
Nike (NKE) offered an in-line outlook for 2024 but expects lower growth in the first half of 2025. Shares gapped down from the 50-day moving average in heavy volume and it was the worst performer on the Dow.
Earnings Movers On Stock Market Today
Earnings movers included Lululemon (LULU) which fell below the 200-day line and undercut its base on a low-key outlook.
FedEx (FDX) soared and broke out from a cup base with a buy point of 285.53 after earnings surprised. Shares hovered just below the buy point in recent action.
Recent new issue Worthington Steel (WS) held half its gains after gapping up 20% after its third-quarter report. ServiceNow (NOW) is in a flat base with a buy point at 815.32.
Elsewhere, in the IBD 50 Duolingo (DUOL) is in a cup-with-handle pattern with a buy point of 241.86. Wall Street expects 872% earnings growth in 2024.
And Arista Networks (ANET) was in buy range on the stock market today from a flat base’s buy point of 292.66.
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