The Dow Jones Industrial Average held a modest gain Friday afternoon and outperformed the other major stock indexes. In the stock market today, health insurer UnitedHealth Group surged more than 14% on news that the downtrodden stock is a new buy for Warren Buffett.
Salesforce was another winner in the Dow Jones index today, padding its gain to more than 4%. But CRM stock is more than 27% off its 52-week high and still on a sharp downtrend.
The Dow Jones average trimmed a larger gain to 0.2%. Earlier in the session, the 30-stock index reached a record intraday high and is holding just above the 45,000 level.
The Russell 2000 small-cap index lagged with a loss of 0.4% after Thursday's 1.2% decline. But the Russell's drop on Thursday looked orderly as the index pared losses and closed near its session high after two days of strong gains.
The S&P 500 trimmed larger losses to 0.2% and the Nasdaq fell 0.4%.
Volume was lower on the Nasdaq exchange and modestly lower on the New York Stock Exchange compared with Thursday.
Declining stocks outnumbered advancers on the Nasdaq exchange by more than 4-to-3. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers topped winners by around 5-to-4.
Big Movers: Streaming Music Name Looks To Extend Rally
IBD SwingTrader position Spotify Technology jumped 5.5% and retook its 50-day moving average. Shares are in a consolidation pattern with a 785 buy point.
The streaming music stock has rebounded from its July 29 plunge after the company reported a surprise second-quarter loss. On Aug. 4, it announced that it plans to raise the price of its premium subscription service in multiple markets outside the U.S.
Bitcoin miner TeraWulf added another 4.8% on top of Thursday's monstrous 59.5% gain.
Shares soared Thursday on news the bitcoin miner sealed a 10-year AI hosting deal with Fluidstack and that Google is investing in TeraWulf. Google plans to pay $1.8 billion in exchange for around 41 million shares of TeraWulf stock, giving it about an 8% stake in the company.
Google parent Alphabet bumped up 1.6% on the stock market today and is extended from a buy zone from the 181.23 entry point of a cup-with-handle base.
12:13 p.m. ET
Stock Market Today
A strong gain for UnitedHealth fueled big gains for Centene and Molina Healthcare in the S&P 500. Both stocks were up around 4%.
Tapestry also outperformed in the S&P 500, up nearly 4%. The rebound comes after the parent of Coach brand sold off sharply after reporting earnings. Buyers are stepping in today and supporting the stock at the 50-day line.
Inside the Nasdaq 100, Intel rallied more than 3% after surging more than 7% Thursday. The catalyst on Thursday was news that the Trump administration is considering taking a stake in a troubled chip giant.
In other stock market news, AppLovin reversed higher and is back in buy range from a 429.99 entry. AppLovin moved powerfully above the entry last week after reporting strong earnings
Insulet, an IBD Sector Leader, picked up 1.5% and is just below a handle entry of 322.80, best seen on the daily chart.
10:53 a.m. ET
Chip Stocks Thumped
The VanEck Semiconductor ETF gave back 1.5%, hurt by an earnings sell-off for Applied Materials.
Meanwhile, oil prices tracked toward mild losses for the week, as West Texas Intermediate futures traded just above $63 a barrel. Gold rose modestly to nearly $3,400 an ounce.
In economic news, retail sales rose 0.5% in July, in line with expectations. June sales were revised upward to a 0.9% gain from 0.6%.
The 10-year Treasury yield, which hit a high of 4.63% on May 22, edged higher to nearly 4.3%. The two-year yield, which closely tracks the federal funds rate, slipped to around 3.72%. The feeling for now is that the fed funds rate, currently at 4.25% to 4.5%, could get down to 3.5% to 3.75% by the end of the year.
China-based Hesai was a top gainer in the MarketSurge Growth 250, up more than 10%. The company reported earnings and announced a Lidar design win from Toyota.
Lidar, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, is used by autonomous vehicles. Another big player in the space is Ouster, which recently soared to an all-time high on the heels of a strong earnings report.
9:49 a.m. ET
Nasdaq-100 Winners And Losers: Intel, Lululemon, Micron
Among the Nasdaq-100 stocks, Intel and Lululemon Athletica were early winners on the stock market today. Intel stock moved up 3.4%, set to extend a win streak to six sessions. Lululemon shares climbed almost 2% in early morning action.
On the downside, KLA, Lam Research and Micron Technology fell sharply at the market open.
KLA stock tumbled 4.5%, as Lam shares lost 3.2%. And Micron stock sold off 3%, still near a 129.85 buy point.
9:03 a.m. ET
Dow Jones Movers: Amazon, Caterpillar, Salesforce
Inside the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Amazon.com, Caterpillar and Salesforce were on the move Friday.
Amazon stock climbed 0.6%, on pace to extend a win streak to four sessions, while Caterpillar dropped 0.9%. Salesforce shares moved up 1.4% in premarket trading.
8:38 a.m. ET
Stock Market Today: Retail Sales Meet Estimates
Early Friday, retail sales from the Commerce Department rose 0.5% in July, meeting Econoday estimates. Sales were up 0.3% excluding autos, also in line with targets.
Retail sales for June were revised higher, from 0.6% to 0.9%. And retail sales excluding autos moved from an increase of 0.5% to 0.8%.
Meanwhile, the Empire State Manufacturing index climbed to 11.9 for August, above calls for a reading of 0.5.
5:02 a.m. ET
UnitedHealth Surges On Warren Buffett Stake
Late Thursday, Warren Buffett disclosed a new position in UnitedHealth, according to the quarterly Form 13-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Berkshire has purchased just over 5 million shares of Dow Jones component, valued at $1.57 billion, with an average price of 311.97.
In response, UnitedHealth stock led the Dow in premarket trading, more than 11%.
Buffett also added new positions in D.R. Horton and Nucor, while selling some shares of Apple and Bank of America.
D.R. Horton shares rallied 3%, while Nucor stock jumped 6%. Apple and Bank of America shares edged higher early Friday.
Earnings Movers: Applied Materials, Sandisk
Key earnings movers Friday were Applied Materials and Sandisk.
Applied Materials shares plunged 13%, while Sandisk stock sold off 10% in premarket trading.
Stock Market Today: Retail Sales, Consumer Sentiment
Due out at 8:30 a.m. ET, retail sales from the Commerce Department are seen up 0.5% in July on the month and up 0.3% excluding autos, per Econoday.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Empire State Manufacturing Index is also due out at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists expect a slip to 0.5 in August from 5.5 in July.
Additionally, views call for a 0.1% increase in import prices for July, down 0.2% on year. July's export prices are seen up 0.1% as well.
Finally, the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment is expected to improve to 62.1 in the preliminary August report vs. 61.7 in July and 60.7 in June. That's out at 10 a.m. ET.
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