Dow Jones futures rose modestly Friday morning, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures. Broadcom, MongoDB headlined overnight earnings, with the August jobs report on tap. Tesla unveiled its long-awaited Model 3 upgrade in China overnight.
The stock market rally opened higher, as a relatively tame PCE inflation report continued a wave of Fed-friendly economic figures. But the major indexes pared modest gains, closing mixed heading into the August employment data.
Salesforce.com, CrowdStrike and Okta were earnings winners, while Shopify and Amazon.com popped on an expanded alliance.
Earnings
Broadcom, MongoDB, Nutanix, Lululemon Athletica, Samsara, Dell Technologies reported after the close.
NTNX stock and Dell surged early Friday and MongoDB up solidly. IOT stock and Lululemon also rose. AVGO declined solidly.
Tesla unveiled the "Highland" Tesla Model 3 in China overnight, also slashed prices of its Model S, X and its Full Self-Driving system. TSLA stock was little changed, hovering around an early buy point.
Tesla China rivals Li Auto, Nio and XPeng released August deliveries early Friday, along with EV and battery giant BYD.
AMZN stock and Li Auto are on SwingTrader. LI and IOT stock are on the IBD 50. LULU stock is on the IBD Big Cap 20. Amazon was Thursday's IBD Stock Of The Day.
The video embedded in the article reviewed the market rally action and analyzed AMZN stock, Shopify, Meta Platforms and General Electric.
Jobs Report
The Labor Department will release the August jobs report at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists expect nonfarm payrolls to rise by 170,000, down from July's 187,000. The jobless rate holds at 3.5%. Average hourly earnings should climb 4.4% vs. a year earlier, steady with July.
At 10 a.m., Wall Street expects the August ISM manufacturing index edging up 0.4 point to 46.8, but still holding below the 50 level.
Dow Jones Futures Today
Dow Jones futures were 0.5% above fair value. S&P 500 futures rose 0.4% while Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.25%.
The 10-year Treasury yield rose slightly to 4.1%.
Crude oil rose 1% to above $84 a barrel. Copper futures climbed more than 1% amid China optimism.
The jobs report will be sure to swing Dow futures and Treasury yields Friday morning.
Remember that overnight action in Dow futures and elsewhere doesn't necessarily translate into actual trading in the next regular stock market session.
Join IBD experts as they analyze leading stocks and the market on IBD Live
Stock Market Rally
The stock market rally had a mixed session, with growth stocks continuing to lead.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5% in Thursday's stock market trading. The S&P 500 index dipped 0.2%. The Nasdaq composite eked out a 0.1% gain.
The small-cap Russell 2000 sank 0.2%, reversing lower after briefly topping the 50-day line.
Leaders continued to act well, with more names such as AMZN stock offering buy signals. Leadership also continues to expand, with growth and energy doing well but the housing sector rebounding, a variety of industrial/construction/metals plays looking good and even travel shoring up.
U.S. crude oil prices popped 2.45% to $83.63 a barrel on Thursday. Oil futures have surged 23% in the past three months.
Copper futures dipped 0.3% on Thursday, but fell 5.6% for the month.
The 10-year Treasury yield fell 3 basis points to 4.09%. The 10-year yield is down 15 basis points so far this week.
Friday's jobs report and other economic data will be key for Treasury yields and the stock market rally.
ETFs
Among growth ETFs, the Innovator IBD 50 ETF rose 0.55%. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF gained 0.8%. IOT stock and Nutanix are IGV components. The VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF advanced 0.4%. AVGO stock is a significant SMH holding.
Reflecting more-speculative story stocks, ARK Innovation ETF climbed 0.5% and ARK Genomics ETF was just above break-even. Tesla stock is the No. 1 holding across Ark Invest's ETFs. SHOP stock also is a top-10 holding.
SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF edged up 0.15%. U.S. Global Jets ETF descended 0.3%. SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF stepped up 0.3%. The Energy Select SPDR ETF edged up 0.1% and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund slumped 1.2%.
The Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund retreated 0.45%.
The Financial Select SPDR ETF declined 0.4%. The SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF rose 0.5%.
Five Best Chinese Stocks To Watch Now
Tesla Model 3 Upgrade
Tesla put its upgraded Model 3 on sale in China on Friday. The Shanghai plant has been producing the "Highland" Model 3 for the past few weeks, slowly ramping up. Dealers have been taking reservations in the past few weeks as well.
Photos of the new Model 3 show a modest refresh of the exterior and interior.
The new Model 3 is getting a 9% battery range boost. But the price will be 12% higher.
The upgraded Model 3 will start at RMB 259,900 ($35,810.00) vs. RMB 231,900 ($31,950) for the old version. That was a surprise. The speculation was that the upgraded Model 3 would see a big price cut, or at least keep the price steady.
The upgraded EV also reportedly has lower production costs, so Tesla could see a much-needed boost to profit margins.
It's not clear when Tesla's Fremont plant will start making the new version for the U.S.
Also on Friday, Tesla slashed Model S and X prices. In the U.S. is now charging $74,990 for the base Model S and $79,990 for the Model X. The base X, with its sub-$80,000 price is now eligible for federal tax credits of $7,500.
In China, Tesla cut the base Model S by 14% and base Model X by 18%. The Plaid versions of those luxury vehicles were reduced by roughly 20%.
Tesla also cut the FSD price to $12,000 from $15,000, after steadily increasing the price over the years. Despite its name, Full Self-Driving is not full self-driving, but a Level 2 driver-assist system.
Meanwhile, Tesla appears to be stepping up North America inventory discounts on the Model 3 and Model Y, as margin pressures continue. Also, federal prosecutors reportedly are probing Tesla for misuse of funds as well as inflating battery ranges.
Tesla stock lost a fraction early Friday, not moving much on the Model 3 upgrade news. Shares rose 0.5% to 258.08 on Thursday, continuing to hold above the 50-day line after Tuesday's big surge.
Investors could use Thursday's high of 261.18 as an early entry. The EV giant has a 299.29 official buy point, according to MarketSmith analysis.
China EV Sales
Li Auto, Nio and XPeng reported August deliveries early Friday.
Li Auto delivered a record 34,914 vehicles, up 2.3% vs. July's 34,134 and 664% vs. a year earlier. The hybrid SUV maker has said production capacity will be constrained until October. However, Li did announce an insurance subsidy on Wednesday.
Li stock rose modestly before the open. On Thursday, shares dipped 0.8% to 41.65, holding the 21-day line.
Nio deliveries came in at 19,329, down 5.5% from July's record 20,462 but up 81% vs. a year earlier. Earlier in the week, the EV startup gave subdued forecasts for August-September sales.
Nio stock climbed modestly in the premarket. Shares fell 3.75% on Thursday, between the 50-day and 200-day lines.
XPeng deliveries hit 13,690, the highest since June 2022. Sales jumped 24.4% vs. July, the seventh straight month of sequential gains. Deliveries leapt 43% vs. a year earlier. Deliveries of its relatively new G6 crossover, a Model Y rival, jumped to 7,068.
XPEV stock advanced modestly early Friday. Shares slumped 5.8% on Thursday. consolidating after some huge moves in recent months.
BYD sold a record 274,386 vehicles in August, up nearly 5% vs. July's 262,161. and 57% vs. a year earlier. Out of the 173,977 passenger vehicles, some 145,627 were all-electric BEVs and 128,459 PHEVs.
BYD stock is not yet trading in the U.S. Shares dipped 0.3% on Thursday, modestly below the 50-day line. BYD stock has jumped 9.2% this week after a big sell-off earlier this month.
Time The Market With IBD's ETF Market Strategy
What To Do Now
The stock market rally paused Thursday but the major indexes have had a big week, holding on to Tuesday's decisive gains. A growing number of stocks are offering buying opportunities, with many more in the wings.
Investors should be gradually adding exposure as the market continues to act well. If you're adding 5%, 10% a day, it doesn't take long to be significantly or fully invested.
Make sure you're prepared by keeping your watchlists up to date. Extra work now can help you get in the right stocks at the right time.
Friday's reaction to the August jobs report will be important.
Read The Big Picture every day to stay in sync with the market direction and leading stocks and sectors.
Please follow Ed Carson on X/Twitter at @IBD_ECarson for stock market updates and more.
