The Dow Jones Industrial Average was an outlier and ended in positive territory Friday as the tech sell-off deepened and the S&P 500 fell below a key psychological level on the stock market today.
Indexes took a blow overnight from Israel's retaliatory attack on Iran. By Friday afternoon, however, tension eased enough for the Dow to move into positive territory. Still, the likes of Nvidia, Meta Platforms and Amazon.com fell below their 50-day moving averages. And recent stock darling Super Micro Computer collapsed.
The Dow industrials lodged a 0.6% gain Friday while the S&P 500 fell 0.9%. The S&P hit session lows after adding yet another distribution day on Thursday, and dipped below a key psychological level at 5,000. Among the S&P sectors, utilities, energy, financials and consumer staples fared well while communication services, technology and consumer discretionary fell.
The Nasdaq suffered the deepest losses and fell 2%. But small caps on the Russell 2000 eked out a 0.2% gain on the stock market today.
Volume Higher, Bitcoin Event Due
Volume on the New York Stock Exchange and on the Nasdaq was higher compared with the same time on Thursday. Nonetheless, breadth was encouraging as advancers tracked ahead of decliners on both exchanges. On the NYSE, they had a 2-to-1 lead and on the Nasdaq they were slightly ahead.
The Innovator IBD 50 ETF plunged more than 2%. And the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 2 basis points to 4.63%.
Meanwhile, bitcoin held near $64,000 ahead of its fourth halving event. The countdown to the halving began on Friday with just a handful of blocks remaining. The halving will reduce miners' rewards to 3.125 bitcoins per block, effectively reducing the number of new bitcoins that will enter circulation over time.
Dow Jones Stocks On The Move
Among Dow Jones components, American Express rebounded in strong volume after first quarter sales met views and earnings per share came in higher at $3.33 per share versus estimates of $2.98. The stock found support at the 10-week moving average.
UnitedHealth and JPMorgan Chase also helped lift the Dow, while Amazon, Intel, Microsoft and Apple weighed it down.
Stock Market Today: Netflix Falls
Netflix fell 9% after first quarter results were strong, but the streaming giant's second-quarter sales outlook did not meet estimates. Shares triggered a sell signal by falling below the 50-day moving average in huge volume. Netflix was the worst performer on the Nasdaq and among the worst performers in the IBD MarketSurge Growth 250.
Intuitive Surgical soared at the open until it hit resistance at its 50-day moving average. Shares gave up gains and fell 1.7%. First quarter results were released late Thursday. Sales rose 11% to $1.9 billion while earnings of $1.50 per share were 22% higher.
Among the Magnificent Seven, first quarter earnings are due for Tesla on Tuesday. Shares have trended lower and traded below the 50-day moving average since January. Analysts expect a 5% decline in sales, and see a 42% plunge in earnings to 49 cents per share.
Nvidia, Amazon and Meta Platforms broke a key level of support at the 50-day line. Nvidia fell 4% and slid below its 50-day line, which should be considered a sell signal. Amazon and Meta haven't fallen quite as much below their 50-day lines, but their action is worrisome nonetheless.
Futures Loom After AI Meltdown; Tesla Slashes Prices
Stock Market Today: Magnificent Seven Under 50-Day
With that, six of the stocks in the Magnificent Seven are under their 50-day moving averages.
Google parent Alphabet is holding just above a 153.78 buy point on the stock market today.
Among top artificial intelligence plays, Super Micro Computer plunged 23%. The stock gapped down, sinking further below the 50-day moving average, which is a sell signal.
Volume is running well above average. It is another one of the leader indicators of the market uptrend that have broken down.
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