Dow Jones futures rose early Friday, along with S&P 500 futures, while Nasdaq futures were little changed. Applied Materials and Sandisk tumbled Thursday night on guidance.
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway disclosed new positions in Nucor and Dow giant UnitedHealth, while trimming its still-hefty Apple stake.
The stock market rally was little changed on the major indexes despite a surprisingly hot PPI inflation report. Market breadth was weak while many AI and other growth plays came under selling pressure again.
Amazon.com helped prop up the big-cap indexes, flashing an early buy point. AMZN stock is on SwingTrader. Amazon was Thursday's IBD Stock Of The Day.
Dow Jones Futures Today
Dow Jones futures rose 0.6% vs. fair value, buoyed by UnitedHealth. S&P 500 futures climbed 0.2%. Nasdaq 100 futures were just below break-even.
Chinese industrial production rose 3.7% in July vs. a year earlier, with retail sales up 5.7%. Both were slowdowns vs. June and below estimates.
Remember that overnight action in Dow futures and elsewhere doesn't necessarily translate into actual trading in the next regular stock market session.
Key Earnings
Applied Materials topped fiscal Q3 views but guided significantly lower for Q4. AMAT stock dived more than 10% in premarket trade, signaling a move below the 50-day and 200-day lines. Applied Materials stock had been working on a potential flat base.
Fellow chip-gear giants KLA Tencor and Lam Research, which flashed buy signals recently, fell solidly overnight.
Sandisk beat consensus but gave in-line earnings guidance. SNDK stock plunged, signaling a gap below the 50-day line The flash memory play had been moving toward a 49.82 buy point, either as a cup-base entry or as a handle to longer consolidation. Sandisk was spun off earlier this year by Western Digital.
Buffett's Berkshire Discloses Nucor, UnitedHealth buys
Late Thursday, Berkshire disclosed its latest stock buys and sells and holdings in its 13-F filing with the SEC.
The Warren Buffett-run conglomerate took a new position in steelmaker Nucor and ailing insurer UnitedHealth. Nucor jumped, signaling a breakout. UNH stock spiked more than 10% higher, but from near multiyear lows.
Berkshire also sold some more Apple stock and Bank of America, its two biggest positions.
Berkshire stock edged higher early Friday, still below the 50-day and 200-day line. Shares have been in a downtrend since Buffett announced in early May that he would step down as CEO at year-end.
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Stock Market Rally
The stock market rally fell modestly for much of the session amid a hot PPI inflation report and weak guidance from Coherent and Tapestry. Amazon stock helped the major indexes close little changed but breadth was weak after advancers trounced losers Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost a fraction in Thursday's stock market trading. The S&P 500 index nudged higher while the Nasdaq composite was a whisker lower. The small-cap Russell 2000 slumped 1.2%, but after surging in the prior two sessions.
The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF fell 0.65% after two big gains. The First Trust Nasdaq 100 Equal Weighted Index ETF declined 0.7%, back to its 21-day line.
Keep in mind that these indexes and ETFs are up more than 1% for the week, except for QQEW, up 0.9% through Thursday.
A number of growth stocks, especially around the AI space, had another tough session. The technical damage varied, with some extended stocks finding 10-day or 21-day support while more-recent buys pulled back to or below entries.
Some new leadership is doing well, with financials, biotechs and homebuilders extending runs or holding the bulk of their recent gains.
U.S. crude oil prices rose 2.1% to $63.96 a barrel.
The 10-year Treasury yield rose five basis points to 4.29%. Investors are still betting on a September rate cut, but see three cuts this year as less likely.
ETFs
Among growth ETFs, the Innovator IBD 50 ETF gave up 0.7%. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF slid 1.1%. The VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF edged up 0.2%. AMAT stock is in SMH, along with Lam Research and KLA.
ARK Innovation ETF declined 1.1% and ARK Genomics ETF fell 0.3%.
SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF lost 1.1%%. U.S. Global Jets ETF descended 1.3%. SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF slumped 1.8%. The Energy Select SPDR ETF dipped 0.1%.
The Financial Select SPDR ETF and Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund both advanced 0.5%.
The Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund gave up 0.9%.
Best Growth Stocks To Buy And Watch
Amazon Stock
Amazon stock popped 2.9% to 230.98, breaking the downtrend of a new handle, offering an early entry. Shares added to Wednesday's bounce off the 10-week line, with the e-commerce giant announcing a much-bigger push into same-day grocery delivery. The official buy point is 236.53.
What To Do Now
The stock market rally is still looking strong, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq right at record highs while the Dow Jones and Russell 2000 have had big weeks.
Growth leaders have taken some knocks, though the losses and chart damage can vary.
Some investors may have wanted to take some profits in extended names coming in. Others may have taken opportunities to buy into new sectors joining the leadership. A little of both would be sound.
Keep working on watchlists and exit strategies so you're not forced to make quick decisions with emotions running high.
Read The Big Picture every day to stay in sync with the market direction and leading stocks and sectors.
Please follow Ed Carson on Threads at @edcarson1971 and X/Twitter at @IBD_ECarson for stock market updates and more.
