The Dow Jones Industrial Average was volatile Friday as Wall Street weighed comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium. Gainers in the stock market today included Netflix, which got a nice price target hike from Loop Capital.
Gains for the stock market faded after Powell said inflation is still too high and that the Fed is prepared to raise interest rates further if necessary. But indexes bounced back over the past hour.
Netflix stock was near session lows but still outperformed after Loop Capital upgraded shares to buy from hold with a 500 price target. NFLX poked above its 50-day moving average earlier in the week, but shares fell sharply with the broad market Thursday, down nearly 5% in light turnover. Like a lot of other growth stocks at this point, Netflix is stuck below its 50-day moving average.
The 10-year Treasury edged higher to 4.26% at midday. Federal funds futures traders think there's an 80% chance that the Fed will leave the fed funds rate unchanged at the September meeting, in a range of 5.25% to 5.50%. But odds have risen to about 50/50 for another 25-basis-point hike at the November meeting.
Top gainers in the Dow Jones today included Johnson & Johnson and Salesforce, but Salesforce was well off highs ahead of next week's earnings report. Results are due Wednesday after the close.
Outside The Dow Jones
The Nasdaq composite turned slightly lower after rising nearly 1.3% intraday. Losers beat winners on the Nasdaq by nearly 2 to 1.
Nvidia slumped another 3% after a rough session Thursday that saw sellers knock NVDA to session lows by the close. Shares soared more than 6% early Thursday, but the gain faded to 0.1% by the close. NVDA's price action is a classic example of what stalling action looks like on a daily chart. Heavy-volume without further price progress can be seen in the major stock indexes or individual stocks. For the Nasdaq and S&P 500, it's considered a form of distribution in certain cases.
Adobe stock held a 1% gain. The software giant is showing strength by holding support at its 10-week moving average.
While the Dow Jones and Nasdaq briefly poked above their 50-day lines Thursday, the S&P 500 didn't quite get there. The index hit a high of 4,458 Thursday, about 1 point below the index's 50-day line.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.1% and the Dow Jones index was up 0.3% at midday. Declining stocks were evenly matched with advancers on the NYSE.
Earnings winners included enterprise software giant Workday. After a wild session Thursday that saw WDAY stock reverse sharply lower, shares were up 3% at midday Friday. Late Thursday, the company reported a 72% rise in quarterly profit, with revenue up 16% to $1.79 billion.
Ulta Beauty, which has been on a downtrend since May, extended losses after reporting earnings and revenue growth that slowed from the prior quarter. ULTA stock is approaching a key test of the 400 level.
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IBD Growth Screens
In the MarketSmith Growth 250, sellers knocked Marvell Technology lower after the stock suffered a bearish outside day Thursday in very heavy volume. Earnings declined for the third straight quarter and revenue fell 12% to $1.34 billion. The results were mostly in line with expectations. Revenue guidance for the current quarter was also in line.
Intuit reversed higher after earnings topped expectations. The TurboTax maker also raised its dividend 15%, but revenue guidance was light. Intuit stock remains in a bullish technical setup, just above a long consolidation after finding support at the 10-week moving average.
Medpace, a new entrant to the IBD 50 Top 10 in Leaderboard, is making a second test of its 10-week line. Normally, that would put MEDP stock in an alternate buy zone. But with the stock market in a correction, new buys are risky.
Mastercard held a modest gain, along with Dow Jones stock Visa. Both stocks continue to hold near all-time highs.
Follow Ken Shreve on Twitter @IBD_KShreve for more stock market analysis and insight.
