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Investors Business Daily
Business
KEN SHREVE

Dow Jones Reverses Lower On Reports Of Cyberattack; Amazon Soars, Apple Plunges

The Dow Jones Industrial Average reversed lower for a loss of 0.4% Friday on reports that a cyberattack hit hospital computer systems across several states. Top gainers in the Dow Jones included Amgen, which jumped on earnings. But Apple was a drag, down nearly 5%.

Amgen gapped up close to its 200-day moving average on a nice earnings and revenue beat. It also upped its full-year forecast. But Wall Street frowned on Apple's earnings report, which showed another quarter of declining revenue. IPhone and iPad revenue missed expectations, but services were a bright spot, with revenue up 8% to $21.2 billion. Apple stock gapped below the 50-day moving average.

Microsoft also outperformed in the Dow Jones today, but it's still stuck below its 50-day moving average.

The July jobs report was a focal point in the stock market today. Nonfarm payrolls came in at 187,000, just below the 200,000 consensus. June payroll growth was revised slightly lower to 185,000 from an initially reported 209,000. The Federal Reserve wants to see some softness in the labor market to help bring inflation down. But wages rose more than expected, up 0.4% month over month and 4.4% year over year.

Federal funds futures traders aren't expecting the Fed to raise interest rates at the September meeting. In fact, they think the current federal funds rate will be right where it is now (5.25% to 5.5%) at the end of the year.

After three straight gains, the 10-year yield slumped 14 basis points to around 4.05%. The U.S. dollar fell sharply, too.

Outside The Dow Jones

The Nasdaq composite also turned lower after a strong early move above the 14,000 level. It closed with a loss of 0.4%. Preliminary data showed lower volume on the Nasdaq, with declining stocks only having a slight edge over advancers.

Top gainers in the Nasdaq 100 included enterprise software giant Atlassian, which rallied sharply after reporting strong Q2 results.

The S&P 500, up 0.8% intraday, turned lower and closed with a loss of 0.5%. Preliminary data showed slightly higher volume on the NYSE, with winners having a slight edge over losers.

How To Know It's Time To Sell Your Favorite Stock

Several leading growth stocks have come under heavy selling pressure in recent days. The Nasdaq marked a harsh distribution day Wednesday, falling 2.2% in higher volume, putting the stock market uptrend under pressure.

A weak earnings report from Fortinet fueled broad-based selling among security software firms. Fortinet gapped below its 200-day moving average and was down 25% in late trading. Group peer Palo Alto Networks slumped below its 50-day line in heavy volume, falling around 8%.

Amazon.com was an earnings winner, up 8% in strong volume. Revenue at Amazon Web Services rose 12% to $22.1 billion. Ad revenue jumped 22% to $10.7 billion. AMZN guided Q3 revenue above expectations.

At one point Friday, Amazon picked up $139.7 billion in market cap, making it the 10th largest one-day market cap gain in history.

Several technology stocks in the Dow Jones index came under selling pressure, but losses were contained. Cisco Systems gave back 1%, while Salesforce eased 0.5%.

Growth Stocks On The Move

Dropbox, tracked in the top-rated database software group, soared nearly 6% after reporting strong Q2 results. DBX is in a follow-on buy zone after a bullish bounce off its 10-week moving average.

Two other top stocks found support at their 10-week lines this week: Shake Shack and Martin Marietta. SHAK and MLM are new additions to the Leaderboard model portfolio, which is about 70% invested at this point.

Booking Holdings gapped above its short-term moving averages and the 3,000 level, rising nearly 8% to an all-time high. Adjusted profit jumped 97% to $37.62 a share. Revenue increased 27% to $5.46 billion. CEO Glenn Fogel said the company expects a record summer travel season.

Retail leader Floor & Decor gapped down to its 50-day line and held support for most of the session. But the stock closed near session lows and just below the support level. Earnings and revenue came in mostly in line with expectations.

Follow Ken Shreve on Twitter for more stock market analysis and insight.

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