The Dow Jones Industrial Average and other main indexes climbed in morning trading but reversed lower from opening gains. The Dow Jones index is on track for its eighth straight losing week after it undercut last week's lows.
The major indexes are on track to post steep weekly losses after this week's earlier sell-offs. The Dow Jones index is also set to close below last week's low, which indicates further bearishness. In Friday's trading, the S&P also undercut its lows.
Stocks in Asia and Europe rose across the board after China's central bank lowered a key benchmark interest rate in attempts to bring relief to borrowers still grappling with the Covid-19 outbreak.
The Dow Jones industrials traded down 1.1% after ceding most gains. The S&P 500 was down 1.3%. Meanwhile, the small-cap Russell 2000 was down 1.3%. The Nasdaq faded to a 1.7 % loss. According to IBD data, volume was running higher on the Nasdaq and on the NYSE vs. the same time on Thursday.
The 11 S&P 500 sectors traded mostly lower, with only real estate holding a gain of 0.2%. Consumer discretionary stock held the biggest losses. Meanwhile, the Innovator IBD 50 ETF, a benchmark for growth stocks, declined 1.4%.
Stocks Near Buy Points
Lithium producers Livent and Albemarle both reversed early gains but still are near possible buy points and deserve to be on investors watch lists while market uncertainty works itself out.
Livent reversed lower on Friday and remains up more than 3% for the week. The stock is forming a 33.14 cup entry, while shares remain just 12% below this area. The stock's Relative Strength line is at a new high, a bullish sign. The stock was also featured in yesterday's IBD Live show as one to watch. Investors could use 29.68 as an early entry. That's just above the May 5 high, reached not long after the company reported a 950% EPS gain and raised guidance.
The stock rose in higher volume on Thursday, which indicates accumulation. Shares on May 4 jumped over 30% on better-than-expected earnings.
Meanwhile, Albemarle lost 3% and is up over 1% for the week. Albemarle stock is building a consolidation with a 291.58 buy point. Investors could use 243.28 as an early entry. But investors should keep an eye on the 248 level because that appears to be a key resistance area. The RS line for ALB stock is at record highs. Albemarle also delivered strong earnings and guidance earlier this week.
Stocks With Earnings
Chip stock Applied Materials reported earnings late Thursday. The firm missed on EPS and sales and gave weak guidance for the current quarter due to supply chain issues. The stock lost 6.5% on Friday and remains in a long downtrend.
Palo Alto Networks gapped up more than 11% but faded gains to an increase of over 7% after the firm beat fiscal Q3 estimates for earnings. The cybersecurity firm said profit rose 30% to $1.79 per share on an adjusted basis. Including acquisitions, revenue rose 29% to $1.4 billion. Analysts expected earnings of $1.68 per share on sales of $1.36 billion.
Ross Stores was the latest among retailers to report earnings this week. After a slew of negative retailer-sector news this week, Ross followed suit. The company missed expectations across the board while giving weaker targets for the current quarter. Shares plummeted over 23% in heavy volume and was the worst performer in the S&P 500 Friday.
Ross is currently down 26.72% month-to-date and down 36.02% year-to-date.
Follow Rachel Fox on Twitter at @IBD_RFox for more Nasdaq and stock market commentary.
