The Dow Jones Industrial Average was higher Friday at midday, along with the Nasdaq composite and S&P 500. Top gainers in the Dow Jones today included Apple as the iPhone 15 became available today. But just like the broad market, Apple stock has been under heavy distribution after a strong gain during the first half of the year.
McDonald's was another early gainer in the Dow Jones. The fast-food giant reportedly will raise royalty fees for new franchised restaurants from 4% to 5%, the first raise in decades.
UnitedHeath Group rallied for a third straight session, while Chevron outperformed. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures were up 1% to around $90.50 a barrel.
Nike, down 12 out of the past 13 sessions, fell slightly ahead of next week's earnings report. The stock's latest weakness follows a period of 11 straight losses that started Aug. 10.
Top performers like Cintas and Costco are also on the earnings calendar.
The Dow Jones industrials closed just above the 34,000 level Thursday after two days of volatile price action. Besides the 34,000 level, another support level to watch for the blue-chip index is the 200-day moving average, currently around 33,808. The Dow was up 0.1% at midday.
Outside the Dow Jones
Several Chinese stocks outperformed in the stock market today on a couple of headlines. For starters, a Bloomberg report said that China is considering softening rules that limit foreign ownership in domestic publicly traded firms to spur more investment in China's $9.4 trillion stock market.
Separately, Alibaba outperformed early on reports that the company's logistics unit — Cainiao Network Technology — will file for a Hong Kong IPO as early as next week.
Other Chinese stocks with strong early gains in the MarketSmith Growth 250 included Futu Holdings, New Oriental Education, Li Auto and PDD.
The Nasdaq composite was up 0.9% approaching the noon hour ET as Magnificent Seven stocks like Meta Platforms (which regained the 300 level), Amazon.com and Nvidia outperformed. Advancing stocks on the Nasdaq had a slight edge over decliners.
How To Know It's Time To Sell Your Favorite Stock
The composite could be ready for a major test of the 13,000 level, while NVDA stock continues to hold above the 400 level.
After soaring 13 basis points Thursday to 4.48%, the 10-year Treasury yield dipped 5 basis points to 4.43%.
The S&P 500 added 0.4% and the iShares Russell 2000 ETF edged up 0.2%. Winners beat losers on the NYSE by nearly 2 to 1.
Semiconductor-equipment stocks outperformed in the S&P 500, with names like Lam Research, KLA and Applied Materials up at least 1.5%.
After several distribution days for the Nasdaq and S&P 500, both indexes have weakened considerably from a technical perspective. Gains in low volume from here would strengthen the bear case. For now, both indexes are under heavy selling pressure and would need to rally quite a bit to break out of their downtrends. The Dow Jones remains also on a downtrend.
Growth Stocks On The Move
Other top gainers in the MarketSmith Growth 250 included Dorian LPG, which soared 3% and cleared a late-stage cup-with-handle base with a 28.69 entry. The company is a global shipper of liquefied petroleum gas.
After a nice close off lows Thursday, Oceaneering rallied 3%. It's still in a buy zone from an alternate entry of 23.80.
In the enterprise software group, Nutanix rallied nicely off its 21-day exponential moving average. It's still in a buy zone after gapping up on earnings earlier this month.
In the insurance group, Ryan Specialty Holdings jumped to an all-time high after a couple of tight weekly closes. It broke out of a three-weeks-tight pattern with a 49.77 buy point.
Fellow insurer Travelers was flat in the Dow Jones index after a recent rise above its 50-day line. But the stock's 200-day line around 176 is a potential resistance level to watch.
Follow Ken Shreve on X/Twitter @IBD_KShreve for more stock market analysis and insight.
