Threats of high tariffs on the European Union from President Donald Trump pressured major stock indexes Friday, though they moved off session lows by the close. Trump did make one industry happy when he signed executive orders that sent nuclear stocks flying. But Nvidia fell on the stock market today as the artificial intelligence chip leader prepares to report earnings next week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 256 points, or 0.6%. The S&P 500 stemmed its fall and managed to bounce off its 200-day moving average. The benchmark index ended the day 0.7% lower.
The Nasdaq continued to lag the other two indexes with a 1% decline.
Volume was lighter on the New York Stock Exchange but continued to run higher on the Nasdaq vs. the same time on Thursday. Though still negative, there was an improvement in breadth, with decliners leading the action on both exchanges by a smaller margin. On the NYSE losers outnumbered advancers by more than 5-to-4 while their lead was roughly 3-to-2 on the Nasdaq.
Small caps on the Russell 2000 trimmed earlier losses to 0.3%, but the Innovator IBD 50 exchange traded fund added to early gains and rose 0.4% on Friday.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell five basis points to 4.51%. Among the S&P 500 sectors, technology and consumer discretionary lagged while energy and utilities gained.
Among Investor's Business Daily's 197 industry groups, alternative energy and gold mining stocks did well while several retail groups lagged.
In individual stocks, design software maker Autodesk eliminated the day's losses and finished slightly higher after its first-quarter report. Earnings of $2.29 a share on sales of $1.63 billion came in higher than estimates of $2.15 in earnings per share on sales of $1.61 billion.
3.26 p.m. ET
Stock Market Today: Nuke Approvals
On Friday, Trump signed several executive orders to ease the process for nuclear reactor approvals and directed the Departments of Energy and Defense to identify federal lands for nuclear deployment.
Oklo and Centrus Energy soared more than 20% each, as did NuScale Power. Lightbridge catapulted more than 44%.
S&P 500 Holds Key Level Amid Trump Tariff Threats; Nvidia In Focus
2:04 p.m. ET
Lower-Quality Trade Proposals
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday that trade proposals from the EU have not been of the same quality as from other trade partners, the Wall Street Journal reported.
"The 90-day pause on the April 2 tariffs was based on countries or trade blocs coming to us and negotiating in good faith," he said. Bessent also said trade talks with other partners were "moving quickly" and agreements could be announced before the 90-day pause.
Trump's renewed threats of tariffs on the EU included a recommendation to hike levies to 50% starting June 1. Currently, the U.S. has a 10% tariff on all European goods and sector duties on steel and aluminum.
While most stocks were still in the red, Royal Bank of Canada managed to edge past a buy point of 128.08. The bank has been in a 24-week cup base.
And Tesla managed to pull itself out of the red Friday after it had lost more than 1%. The stock was holding at its 10-day moving average.
12:18 p.m. ET
Stock Market Today: Nuclear Stock Breaks Out
Uranium miner Cameco broke out of a cup-with-handle base with a buy point of 53.48 and moved through its buy zone after jumping 9%. Shares are now extended.
Other breakouts included tax software maker Intuit, which jumped more than 7% in recent action. Shares were right above a buy point of 714.78 from a cup base on an earnings beat
Intuit's relative strength line is at a new high, as seen with the blue dot on IBD MarketSurge daily and weekly charts.
10:49 a.m. ET
Dow Jones Stocks: Apple Crumbles On Trump Threat
As he threatened Europe with high tariffs, Trump also targeted Apple in particular in an effort to get the tech giant to move iPhone operations stateside.
Apple fell more than 2% on Friday, extending a seven-day losing streak. Trump threatened tariffs of at least 25% on the iPhone maker for any of the popular handheld devices made outside the U.S.
On TruthSocial, Trump said "I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhones that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else. If that is not the case, a tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the U.S."
How Invested In The Stock Market Should You Be Right Now?
Analyst Dan Ives pointed to challenges in maneuvering Apple's global supply chain and said in a note to clients there was "no chance that iPhone production starts to happen in the U.S. in the near term."
Apple's $500 billion investment in the U.S. has been largely an artificial intelligence initiative. Ives maintained an outperform rating on the tech giant.
Among other Dow Jones components, Nike lagged the most, falling 2%. Nvidia dropped more than 1% as did Boeing. Coca-Cola led a group of a few blue chips that were only able to eke out meager gains.
Stock Market Today: Workday Falls On Earnings
Software stock Workday tanked even though it delivered a sales and earnings beat for the quarter ended April 30. Earnings of $2.23 per share were 22 cents higher than estimates while sales of $2.24 billion also edged past views. The company's sales outlook for the current quarter came in line with analyst expectations.
But shares plummeted nearly 11%, falling below their 50-day moving average. A sell signal was triggered after analysts feared a key performance metric for deferred revenue and order backlog fell short. Workday makes software for human resources management.
Shares are in a consolidation pattern with an early entry at 317.05. Autodesk makes software for the engineering and construction industries.
Spot Bases And Buy Points With Pattern Recognition
Analog Falls
Among chipmakers, Analog Devices fell after its second-quarter results. Earnings of $1.85 a share on sales of $2.64 billion exceeded estimates of $1.70 a share on sales of $2.51 billion. Further, earnings and sales growth picked up after seven quarters of decline.
The company, however, is exposed to highly cyclical industries such as automotive. Analysts noted that the price movement could be related to tariffs. Shares were carving a deep handle to a cup base that has a buy point of 228.80. But the stock has fallen more than 7% below the buy point and triggered a sell signal.
Please follow VRamakrishnan on X/Twitter for more news on the stock market today.
