The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 held modest gains in afternoon trading Friday. Dow component 3M was an early gainer on the stock market today, helped by an upgrade and price target hike.
After seven straight sessions in the black, the Dow was up as much as 0.4% in morning action, helped by strong early moves by Salesforce, Caterpillar and American Express.
Shares of 3M were up nearly 2% near 99 after HSBC upgraded shares to buy and lifted its price target to 115.
Small caps lagged, with the Russell 2000 down 0.7%. The Nasdaq composite dipped 0.2% while the S&P 500 rose fractionally.
Top gainers in the S&P 500 included Mettler-Toledo, which gapped up powerfully after reporting earnings. Arista Networks also outperformed on the stock market today on the heels of a strong earnings report earlier in the week. ANET gapped into a buy zone out of a short cup base in strong volume.
Volume was mixed, slightly lower on the Nasdaq compared with the same time Thursday, and slightly higher on the New York Stock Exchange. Losers outnumbered winners on the Nasdaq by less than 2-to-1. Declining stocks beat advancers on the NYSE by about 3-to-2.
Stock Market Today
Among the Magnificent Seven stocks, Nvidia outperformed early, but the gain faded to 1%. Tech investors were in a good mood early after chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor said revenue in April jumped 59% year over year to $7.28 billion. TSM gapped up 5% and cleared a 148.43 double-bottom entry. As a result, Taiwan Semi was moved from the Leaders Watchlist to the Leaders list.
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Besides Nvidia, Broadcom and Micron were top gainers in the Nasdaq 100 with gains of around 2% each.
Broadcom is only 7% off its high as it sets up in a new consolidation. Micron, meanwhile, continued its low-volume ascent after coming close to a test of its 50-day line.
Among recent initial public offerings, China-based electric-vehicle maker Zeekr (ZK) jumped on its first day of trading after pricing last night at 21, at the high end of a proposed range of 18-21. Shares were trading around 27.25.
The 10-year Treasury added 5 basis points to around 4.5%. The inflation expectations component of the University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey, released at 10 a.m. ET, came in at 3.5%, above expectations for 3.2%. The consumer confidence number came in at 67.4, well below expectations.
Earnings Winners
Sweetgreen was a big mover in the MarketSurge Growth 250, rocketing 37%. Shares gapped up to a 52-week high after the fast-casual chain reported better-than-expected revenue growth, up 26% to $157.9 million. Sweetgreen also bumped up its full-year revenue forecast.
But the new outlook was mostly in line with expectations. Sweetgreen's prior earnings report in late February fueled a huge breakout for the stock.
Natera jumped to an all-time high on the stock market today after the DNA testing firm reported strong first-quarter results. Natera soared more than 11% by midday after the company reported a 54% increase in quarterly profit. Revenue jumped 52% to $367.7 million.
CleanSpark gapped above its 50-day moving average after the bitcoin miner reversed a year-ago loss with a profit of 58 cents a share. Revenue soared 163% to $111.8 million.
After Thursday's heavy-volume gain, Celsius added nearly 4% more as it forms the right side of a cup base.
Sellers knocked several top-rated growth stocks lower in the MarketSurge Growth 250. Losses ranged from 3% to 6% for chip-equipment firm ACM Research, GigaCloud, Duolingo and Robinhood Markets.
Follow Ken Shreve on X @IBD_KShreve for more stock market analysis and insight.
