The Dow Jones Industrial Average's losses continued to deepen into the close on Friday while the Nasdaq composite and S&P 500 also traded lower. Shipping stocks showed leadership while tech stocks led the downside. Shares of Google parent Alphabet and Facebook parent Meta Platforms slumped 1% and 2.6%, respectively, on antitrust investigations by the European Union and the U.K.
By the close on Friday, all the S&P 500 sectors traded in the negative. Consumer discretionary stocks led the downside with a loss of 1.8%.
Dow Jones In Stock Market Today
The recent pattern of big price moves and high volatility trading calmed down on Friday as the indexes made smaller moves to the upside and downside. However, at the close, the indexes had deepened their losses substantially from the open. The Dow Jones industrials were down 0.7% after trading higher most of the afternoon. The Nasdaq lost nearly 2.2% while the S&P 500 fell 1.3%. The small-cap Russell 2000 traded 1.6% lower. Losses continued to deepen into the close.
Early data showed volume was running higher on the Nasdaq and lower on the NYSE vs. the close on Thursday. Elsewhere, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note continued to hold above 2% on Friday.
U.S. Stock Market Today Overview |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Index | Symbol | Price | Gain/Loss | % Change |
| Dow Jones | (0DJIA) | 32943.33 | -230.74 | -0.70 |
| S&P 500 | (0S&P5) | 4204.36 | -55.16 | -1.29 |
| Nasdaq | (0NDQC ) | 12843.81 | -286.15 | -2.18 |
| Russell 2000 | 196.73 | -3.19 | -1.60 | |
| IBD 50 | 37.01 | -0.56 | -1.49 | |
Last Update: 4:04 PM ET 3/11/2022 |
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In geopolitical news, Russian President Vladimir Putin said some progress was made in talks with Ukraine, Meanwhile, the U.S. announced plans to revoke Russia's "most-favored nation" trade status.
Several U.S. companies have announced plans to pull at least some of their operations out of Russia, including Dow Jones leaders McDonald's, Goldman Sachs and Exxon Mobil.
McDonald's stock shot up 2.1%, leading the upside among blue chips, while Goldman Sachs reversed an earlier gain to a 0.9% loss. Yet MCD still looked poised to finish lower for the fifth week in a row. Exxon rose 0.5%.
Among leading Dow Jones stocks Caterpillar, Travelers and Amgen led the upside with gains of over 0.8% each. On the downside, JPMorgan and Nike sold off over 2% each.
Over in the Nasdaq, internet companies' stocks weighed on the index. Google and Meta Platforms stock both fell after the European Union and the U.K. launched antitrust investigations into whether the two companies tried to illegally cooperate in digital advertising.
IBD 50 Stocks To Watch
The Innovator IBD 50 ETF, a great place to look for stocks breaking out, sank 1.5% as Harmony Biosciences and MP Materials led the downside. However, several shipping stocks, including Zim Integrated Shipping, Global Ship Lease and Matson were among top gainers.
These three shippers are all extended from recent breakouts. But another shipper, Genco Shipping & Trading, neared a 22.10 buy point of a 5-1/2-month deep cup base. Shares fell in afternoon trading but remain just 4% away from the entry.
Quanta Services Breaks Out
Outside the Dow Jones, Quanta Services rose 1.9% and scored a breakout above a 124.79 standard buy point in a cup base. Volume was heavy and the relative strength line is at new highs. But the stock barely topped the entry before fading back below it.
Quanta's fundamentals continue to accelerate.
The electric power and oil and gas pipeline infrastructure expert saw profits plunge 51% to 47 cents a share during the Covid-19-plagued first quarter of 2020. Yet since then, earnings have jumped 139%, 23%, 31%, 77%, 43%, 6% and 26% vs. year-ago levels in the past seven quarters. In the past three quarters, sales rebounded 20%, 11% and 35%.
Hence, Quanta's SMR Rating is solid at a B on a scale of A to E.
However, overall market risk remains a point of concern for investors and a reason to remain cautious when making new buys.
Follow Rachel Fox on Twitter at @IBD_RFox for more Dow Jones and stock market commentary.
