The Dow Jones Industrial Average held a modest gain near midday Friday, helped by strong earnings report from UnitedHealth Group. JPMorgan also reported strong results, but JPM stock gave back a good chunk of a 2.7% early gain.
Citigroup and Wells Fargo also reported solid Q2 results, but sellers knocked both stocks well off session highs. The Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF was down 0.7%. But selling was more intense in the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF, which slumped around 2%.
Dow Jones component Microsoft was another solid gainer in the stock market today, helped by UBS upgrade to buy from neutral. UBS cited a stabilization in cloud infrastructure spending, along with near-term AI catalysts.
West Texas intermediate crude oil futures gave back 2% and traded just over $75 a barrel.
The 10-year Treasury, down 26 basis points so far this week, edged higher to around 3.79%. Federal funds futures traders expect the Fed to hike the fed funds by another 25 basis points later this month. That would raise the fed funds rate to a range of 5.25% to 5.50%.
In acquisition news, Eli Lilly gained 3% after the company announced plans to acquire Versanis for close to $2 billion. The deal will expand Lilly's obesity-treatment pipeline.
Outside the Dow Jones
The Nasdaq composite and S&P 500 added 0.4% and 0.2%, respectively. Small caps lagged badly, with the iShares Russell 2000 ETF down more than 1%.
Volume was 20% higher on the Nasdaq compared to the same time Thursday. NYSE volume was about 4% higher.
Artificial Intelligence News And AI Stocks To Watch
Declining stocks outnumbered advancers on the Nasdaq by about 5-to-2. The ratio was nearly 4-to-1 negative on the NYSE.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq is set to announce Friday how it will reweight the Nasdaq 100 via a "special rebalance" that will take place on July 24. The "Magnificent Seven" — Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Alphabet, Amazon.com, Tesla and Meta Platforms — are expected to get lower weights.
In earnings news, Aehr Test Systems soared to an all-time high after the company reported adjusted profit of 23 cents a share, topping views by 2 cents. Revenue increased 10% to $22.27 million. The chip-equipment said it expects to grow annual revenue by at least 50% for its current fiscal year 2024. Aehr is bouncing nicely off its 10-week moving average this week after a sharp plunge on July 5.
Leaderboard stock ASML was a top gainer in the IBD 50, up 2.5%, ahead of next week's earnings report. Results are due Wednesday before the open. The chip-equipment company cleared a flat base Thursday with a 747.13 entry.
Celsius was another top gainer in the IBD 50, up more than 3%. The stock is making a bullish first test of its 10-week moving average after a breakout on May 10.
Growth Stocks On The Move
Several stocks in the Dow Jones lost ground Friday, but some growth stocks outperformed again.
In the chip space, Nvidia jumped to another new high after Truist lifted Nvidia's price target to 545 from 470.
Inside the MarketSmith Growth 250, Advanced Micro Systems gave an early buy signal by moving above its July 5 intraday high in strong volume. There was no news, but earlier this week, TD Cowen lifted AMD's price target to 135 from 115, citing, citing strong data center prospects.
On the downside, Opera plunged 20% after a parabolic move. The stock was nearly 200% above its 200-day moving average ahead of today's decline. The company disclosed in an SEC filing a planned sale of more than 140,000 shares by existing holders.
Follow Ken Shreve on Twitter @IBD_KShreve for more stock market analysis and insight.
