Technology stocks lagged badly in midday action Friday despite a fall in bond yields, as the latest reading on inflation came in exactly as expected. Wall Street looked past an earnings sell-off for Dell on the stock market today and cheered reports in the retail sector from Gap and Nordstrom.
Lower interest rates helped small caps outperform early, but the Russell 2000 turned slightly lower after rising more than 1% intraday. The Nasdaq composite was down 1.5%. The S&P 500 gave back 0.7%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up. It's the final trading day of the month, so watch for some potential volatility near the close.
Volume on the Nasdaq was lower compared to the same time Thursday. Volume on the New York Stock Exchange was slightly higher. Meanwhile, advancing stocks had a slight edge over decliners on the Nasdaq. The ratio was more than 2-to-1 positive on the NYSE.
Dell tanked 22% as better than expected revenue was offset by a weak earnings outlook. Revenue at Dell's Infrastructure Solutions segment increased 22% to $9.2 billion. Earlier this month, Dell unveiled new personal computers featuring artificial intelligence, along with AI servers. It also announced an expanded partnership with AI leader Nvidia.
Weak results from Dell weighed on other data center-related stocks like Marvell Technology, Vertiv and Powell Industries. Marvell slumped more than 12% while Powell plunged nearly 11%. Vertiv gave back more than 8%.
Stock Market Today: Gap, Nordstrom Surge
Gap jumped nearly 26% after the company raised its full-year operating income forecast. Nordstrom, meanwhile, gave a buy signal after revenue growth accelerated in the May-ended quarter, up 5% to more than $5.2 billion. Nordstrom shares climbed nearly 4%.
Donald Trump stock Trump Media & Technology Group was down more than 7%. Late Thursday, the former president was found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records regarding a payment to silence a porn star.
Salesforce tried to recover on the stock market today after Thursday's earnings sell-off. The Dow Jones component and enterprise software giant suffered severe technical damage Thursday amid pretty clear signs of institutional selling. Shares were up 1.4% in recent trades. After six straight declines, UnitedHealth Group was the top performer on the Dow Jones index today, up more than 2%.
Outside the Dow, Nvidia gave back around 2% on the stock market today, but it's still holding comfortably above its 10-day moving average.
In economic news, personal spending increased 0.2% in April, a little below estimates for 0.3%. Inside the report, the core personal consumption expenditures index increased 2.8% year over year, in line with expectations.
The 10-year Treasury yield was flat around 4.55% ahead of the data. Near midday, the yield was trading around 4.51%, down 4 basis points.
Stocks On The Move
Federal Signal scored a breakout from a flat base, rising 3% in heavy volume. William Blair initiated coverage with an outperform rating.
Security software stocks bounced early on the stock market today after some harsh selling Thursday but early gains faded.
Zscaler jumped 17% early, but the gain faded to 15% as the stock tried to break through some key technical levels. A strong earnings report was the catalyst. Zscaler was nearly 40% off its high headed into the report after institutions started selling the stock hard in early March.
IBD's security software group plunged nearly 5% Thursday, weighed down by an earnings sell-off for Okta. Okta lost more than 2% Friday after tumbling more than 7% Thursday.
CrowdStrike crashed nearly 10% in big volume on Thursday, ahead of next week's earnings report. Shares tried to recover Friday, but fell another 2% in midday trade. The stock is slipping below its 50-day moving average.
In the biotech group, Halozyme Therapeutics continued to rebound after a five-session sell-off. It's back in buy range from a 42.64 entry.
Follow Ken Shreve on X @IBD_KShreve for more stock market analysis and insight.
