Dow Jones futures edged higher early Friday, while S&P 500 futures were little changed and Nasdaq futures fell slightly amid more big earnings and a long-awaited China stimulus plan.
The stock market rally rose again Thursday, with the Nasdaq leading the continued postelection Trump bump. Stocks fractionally added to gains as the Federal Reserve cut its key rate and Fed chief Jerome Powell signaled further easing.
Nvidia rose modestly to fresh highs, arguably still actionable. Fellow AI chip giants Broadcom and Taiwan Semiconductor flashed early entries.
Arista Networks, Cloudflare, Fortinet, Axon Enterprise, Sweetgreen, Affirm Holdings and Square-parent Block were notable earnings reports after the close.
Nvidia, Axon and Broadcom stock are on IBD Leaderboard. Nvidia stock is on SwingTrader. Affirm stock, Arista Networks, Taiwan Semiconductor and Nvidia are on the IBD 50. Axon and Arista stock are on the IBD Big Cap 20.
Dow Jones Futures Today
Dow Jones futures rose 0.1% vs. fair value. S&P 500 futures were steady and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.15%.
The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.3%.
Crude oil declined more than 1%.
These Chinese government OK'd a $1.4 trillion plan to help indebted local governments refinance. But despite the big headline figure, there are doubts that this will result in much net stimulus to revive China's sluggish economy, even with various rate cuts and pro-lending measures in recent months.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.1%. Copper futures, tied to China's demand, sank more than 2%.
Remember that overnight action in Dow futures and elsewhere doesn't necessarily translate into actual trading in the next regular stock market session.
Powell: No Trump Election Impact On Rate Outlook
The Fed cut its key rate by 25 basis points, to a range of 4.5%-4.75%, as expected. Fed chief Jerome Powell said the job market continues to "very gradually cool."
Powell said the election results have no impact on the monetary policy outlook. When asked, the Fed chief said that he would not step down early if Trump asked.
All in all, Powell sounded confident about the economy and the Fed's "middle path," suggesting further gradual rate cuts for now.
The odds of a December rate cut rose modestly to about 75% after the Fed meeting and Powell's comments.
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Stock Market Rally
The stock market rally extended Wednesday's huge postelection gains, though Thursday's advance was more lopsided toward big-cap techs. The major indexes slightly improved after the Fed announcement and Powell's comments, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 hitting fresh all-time highs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell less than one point in Thursday's stock market trading after Wednesday's 3.6% leap. The S&P 500 index climbed 0.7%. The Nasdaq composite jumped 1.5%, fueled by tech giants such as Nvidia, Meta Platforms, Tesla and several others more. The small-cap Russell 2000 fell 0.4% after spiking 5.8% on Wednesday.
AppLovin erupted for a 46% gain, among many big earnings winners. But Mercadolibre and Clear Secure were big earnings losers.
Many leaders are greatly extended or have earnings on tap. Nvidia, Broadcom and Taiwan Semiconductor stock are among names that are actionable or nearly so. So are Costco, Samsara, Deckers and Amphenol
Taiwan Semi, which makes chips for Nvidia, Broadcom and many others, reported early Friday that October sales jumped 29% vs. a year earlier.
U.S. crude oil prices rose 0.9% to $72.36 a barrel.
The 10-year Treasury yield sank 8 basis points to 4.34% following the Fed meeting and Powell's news conference. That's after hitting a four-month high of 4.48% intraday Wednesday. The two-year Treasury yield, more closely tied to the Fed rate-hike outlook, declined 5basis points to 4.22%.
ETFs
Among growth ETFs, the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF jumped 2.5%. The VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF popped 2.4%. Nvidia, Broadcom and Taiwan Semiconductor stock are big SMH holdings. ARK Innovation ETF advanced 1.05%.
SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF fell 0.3% and the Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund sank 0.6%. The Financial Select SPDR ETF gave up 1.5%. The SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF retreated 3.6%.
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Key Earnings Movers
Doximity, Toast and Axon Enterprise stock surged overnight on earnings, with Expedia rising solidly. Insulet climbed modestly, around a buy point.
Sweetgreen plunged while Cloudflare and Trade Desk tumbled in premarket trade. Airbnb, Fortinet and Arista Networks fell solidly. Square and Affirm fell modestly in volatile action. All but Trade Desk had been around buy points.
What To Do Now
The stock market rally is in great shape after two weeks of mammoth news.
However, there aren't a lot of stocks to buy right now that are in position and don't have earnings in the next few days. Don't chase after extended stocks or make buys just before earnings.
You can make incremental buys or add-on moves while also reviewing laggards in your portfolio. Sector or market ETFs are a way to play the current bull market as well.
But you don't have to make major moves if you're significantly to heavily invested with the market charging higher. Even for active investors, a lot of money is made in the sitting.
Keep working on watchlists and considering exit strategies.
Read The Big Picture every day to stay in sync with the market direction and leading stocks and sectors.
Please follow Ed Carson on Threads at @edcarson1971 and X/Twitter at @IBD_ECarson for stock market updates and more.
