The stock market remained moderately higher Wednesday afternoon even as Nvidia stumbled after its earnings report.
Indexes traded about the middle of the day's price ranges. The Nasdaq composite was up 0.6%. The S&P 500 climbed 0.4%.
Nvidia pared its loss to 2% in the stock market today. Shares are now back near the 476.09 buy point of a double-bottom base but far from any sell signals.
Late Tuesday, the chip designer blew past October-quarter expectations on booming sales of artificial intelligence processors for data centers. Its guidance for the current quarter also was better than expected.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5% as Microsoft, Apple and Boeing helped lift the index.
Microsoft climbed to a record high. The company owns a stake in OpenAI, where co-founder Sam Altman is returning as CEO only days after he was let go from the AI startup. Analysts called it a win for Microsoft, which had planned to hire Altman before OpenAI welcomed him back following a number of board changes.
Apple Hits $3 Trillion Again
Apple rose 0.6% and earlier in the session regained a $3 trillion market cap when it traded above 192.89. In afternoon trading, it was at 191.90. Apple first reached the $3 trillion mark in June and the stock has been consolidating since July.
Boeing rose 0.9% after the FAA authorized flight tests to start on the company's MAX-10 jetliner, a program that has suffered lengthy delays.
Small caps also came off opening highs but held a 0.6% increase in the Russell 2000 index. Volume fell on the NYSE and Nasdaq compared with the same time on Tuesday.
Only one stock was breaking out Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks climbed above the 265.90 buy point of a flat base but volume has been fading.
Stock market indexes do seem extended after a powerful run since late October. While IBD suggests an exposure level of 80% to 100% is justified, a pullback would not be surprising. A continued downward reversal in the major indexes would suggest investors will take some profits.
Stock Market Sees Data, Earnings
Ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, the stock market had some economic data and earnings reports to guide its trading.
The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index climbed to 61.3 from 60.4 in October. Inflation expectations of 4.5% were slightly above the prior month's 4.4%.
Jeffrey Roach, chief economist for LPL Financial, said sentiment has fallen for the last four months. "The trajectory is clearly downward and implies consumers will be less willing to spend relative to previous months."
Jobless claims fell by 24,000 to 209,000 last week, well below economists' forecasts. Durable goods orders fell 5.4% in October from the previous month, worse than economists had expected. But excluding aircraft and other transportation, orders were flat and in line with views.
Priscilla Thiagamoorthy, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, noted that the transportation component fell 14.8% as Boeing aircraft bookings fell and motor vehicles and parts dropped for the second straight month. While the U.S. economy had a remarkably strong Q3, she added, data points to a sharp deceleration in the current quarter.
Energy Sector Drags Stock Market
Among sectors, energy was Wednesday's weakest. Energy Select Sector SPDR was down 0.4% paring a loss that earlier exceeded 1%.
The price of U.S. crude oil continued to fall, down 2% to $76.25 per barrel. OPEC delayed a meeting in which it was expected to discuss more oil-production cuts. Saudi Arabia disagrees with output targets of other member nations.
Urban Outfitters gapped below its 50-day moving average in big volume and fell more than 7% below the 36.10 buy point of last week's breakout. That triggers sells signals for the apparel stock. Late Tuesday, Urban Outfitters beat quarterly views, but same-store sales fell sharply.
A mixed performance for apparel retailers continued with Guess plunging 8%, and now more than 7% below the 23.73 buy point of a cup-with-handle base. That's a sell signal. Earnings missed estimates, and the company slashed its revenue and profit forecasts for the year.
Deere tumbled 3% after the farm machinery company beat earnings estimates, but warned it expects a big drop in sales in the new fiscal year.
Autodesk sank 5.5% on weak guidance, even as management raised its outlook for fiscal year ending in January. The design software company's shares broke out of a double bottom base on Nov. 14, but are now 4.5% below the 215.44 buy point.
Innovator IBD 50 ETF was up 0.3% in the stock market afternoon session. Nvidia was one of its weakest performers.
