The stock market closed an uneventful and shortened post-Thanksgiving session narrowly mixed, although small caps and the IBD 50 index outperformed. Indexes made it four consecutive up weeks.
The Nasdaq composite closed 0.1% lower and the S&P 500 edged up 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%. Small caps continued to be volatile as the Russell 2000 jumped 0.6%.
The Dow and S&P made their largest four-week advances since October-November 2022. For the Nasdaq, it was its best four-week stretch since February.
Because trading closed at 1 p.m. ET, volume fell from Wednesday's totals. On an hour-to-hour comparison, Nasdaq volume rose and NYSE trading fell.
The 10-year Treasury yield rose 6 basis points to 4.47%, ending a four-session streak of declines.
The rebound came after German bond prices fell (and yields rose) on news of another suspension of the German debt limit. That signaled that "borrowing in Europe will continue to increase, and the new debt that the Europeans will take on their shoulders will cost significantly higher than a few years ago," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.
Nvidia And Amazon Make Headlines
Nvidia closed 2% lower following a report that it's delaying the launch of a new AI chip designed specifically to comply with U.S. export restrictions. Reuters reported the launch is delayed until the first quarter of 2024. Server manufacturers are having problems integrating the new chip, the report said.
iRobot soared 38.5% after Reuters reported that Amazon.com's $1.4 billion deal to buy the smart vacuum cleaner company is set to win full EU antitrust approval. iRobot shares climbed above the 200-day moving average for the first time since July 24.
But there was bad news for Amazon, too. Warehouse workers and drivers in more than 30 countries, including the U.S., are staging a Black Friday strike against the online retailer. Separately, a bit of good news was that Amazon Prime Video is broadcasting the first-ever Black Friday NFL game today, using it as part of a strategy to package the game with sales promotions.
Amazon shares ended barely higher and near a 145.86 buy point. Most other Magnificent Seven stocks fell, with Alphabet down 1.4%. But Tesla rose 0.5%.
Vista Outdoor pared gains to 2% in heavy trading. Firearms maker Colt CZ Group offered to acquire the company in a deal valued at $1.74 billion, or $30 per share. Vista — whose brands include Remington firearms, CamelBak hydration products and Fox dirt bike gear — had already agreed to merge its sporting-products business with the Czechoslovak Group in October. That deal is worth $1.9 billion on an enterprise value basis, which includes debt.
IBD 50 Outperforms Stock Market
The Innovator IBD 50 ETF rose 0.6%, its fourth gain in the past five sessions.
IBD 50 stock Novo Nordisk broke out of a flat base in heavy volume and remained in buy range from the 104 buy point.
In other breakouts, PGT Innovations climbed above the 32.42 buy point of a shallow cup-with-handle base. Volume was more than double its average, and the relative strength line made a new high. The buy zone for the maker of storm-resistant windows goes to 34.04.
Coinbase closed near the 114.43 buy point of a cup base. Volume was 130% higher than average, and the RS line made a new high also.
In economic news, the headline S&P Global Flash U.S. PMI Composite Output Index was mixed. It came in at 50.7 in November, unchanged from October. The service-sector activity index rose to a four-month high of 50.8 but the manufacturing index fell to a three-month low of 50.4.
Companies raised selling prices at a faster pace, aiding margins. This, despite that the rate of cost inflation fell for a second straight month, S&P Global noted. "Input prices continued to rise, but at a pace that was the slowest since October 2020 and softer than the long-run series average," the report said.
