The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded lower but held up better than the other major stock indexes in afternoon trading Friday. Top gainers in the Dow Jones today included Disney stock. Walt Disney was up around 1% after the company received a $10 billion bid for its ABC network and other cable channels.
Dow Jones components Home Depot, Intel, Microsoft lagged with losses of around 2%.
Highflying IPO Arm Holdings gave back early gains after soaring more than 8% in the early minutes of trading. ARM debuted Thursday after pricing Wednesday night at 51 a share.
Ford, General Motors and Chrysler parent Stellantis outperformed even as the United Auto Workers started targeted strikes after labor contract talks with the Big 3 expired at midnight. Both sides remain far apart on pay increases, according to reports.
The 10-year Treasury yield was up 3 basis points to 4.32%, not far from its 15-year high of 4.36% set last month. The two-day Federal Reserve meeting is next week, and the Fed is widely expected to keep the federal funds rate unchanged in a range of 5.25% to 5.50%. Stock market sentiment has improved this week as the odds for another interest rate hike at the November meeting have fallen quite a bit.
Outside The Dow Jones
The Nasdaq composite was down 1.4%, while the S&P 500 and iShares Russell 2000 ETF each fell around 1%.
Declining stocks outnumbered winners on the Nasdaq and NYSE by more than 2 to 1. Volume on the Nasdaq was about 25% higher compared to the same time Thursday. NYSE volume rose 12%.
Today is "triple-witching" Friday. The term refers to four days each year — the third Fridays of March, June, September, and December — in which stock options, stock index futures, and stock index options all expire. It can sometimes cause increased volume and volatility near the close.
See Which Stocks Are In The Leaderboard Portfolio
Several semiconductor-equipment stocks came under selling pressure after Taiwan Semiconductor told suppliers to delay delivery of high-end chipmaking equipment due to slack demand. ASML, KLA and Applied Materials were down 3.5% to 4%.
In related moves, Nvidia fell below the 50-day moving average and Monday's low. NVDA is a Leaderboard stock.
In earnings news, sellers knocked Adobe lower after quarterly revenue beat expectations but only by a whisker. Revenue guidance for the current quarter was mostly in line with expectations. ADBE stock is now dipping below its 50-day line.
Homebuilder Lennar fell hard despite better-than-expected earnings and revenue. The weakness spilled into other stocks in the group, fueling a decline of just over 2% for the homebuilding group.
The stock market had a bullish session Thursday, with the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite closing with gains from 0.8% to 1%. Volume was higher on the NYSE but slightly lower on the Nasdaq.
The 14,000 level remains a key level to watch for the Nasdaq, along with the index's Sept. 1 high. Both are potential resistance levels to watch.
Steel producers came under selling pressure after Nucor lowered its Q3 earnings guidance, mostly because of lower prices. Nucor was down 5% in afternoon trading.
Growth Stocks On The Move
Inside the MarketSmith Growth 250, Brazilian brokerage XP jumped 4% in strong volume. XP is holding support at its 10-week moving average in a seven-week consolidation.
Wix.com and Braze also bucked the trend with gains of around 2%.
But a large number of growth stocks came under heavy selling pressure, including Super Micro Computer, Samsara, Axcelis Technologies, Miniso and ELF Beauty. ELF has been on a torrid run this year and is making another test of its 50-day line.
Follow Ken Shreve on X/Twitter @IBD_KShreve for more stock market analysis and insight.
