The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher in a mixed day for the stock market Monday. Apple teased some iPhone news and Carl Icahn's firm plunged on a share offering. Meanwhile, an artificial intelligence move by Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk yielded little for the carmaker.
The Dow ended 0.2% higher and at a record high. It is more than 3% above its 50-day line.
The Nasdaq composite lagged though, falling 0.9% as semiconductors and other tech stocks underperformed in the stock market today. The Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF fell nearly 1.3%.
The S&P 500 closed down 0.3%.
The Russell 2000 faded late and closed slightly lower. The Innovator IBD 50 ETF reversed lower 1.4%.
Volume fell on the NYSE and Nasdaq from Friday's totals, according to early data.
3:28 p.m. ET
Stock Market Today: Small Caps Shine As Growth Suffers
S&P 500 sectors were mixed. Energy and consumer staples made the best gains while consumer services and technology continued to lag.
Energy stocks were benefiting after West Texas Intermediate prices cleared the 77 level, a rise of more than 3%.
Volume was lower compared to the same time on Friday on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq.
Small caps gave up some early gains, but the Russell 2000 fought off the bears as it rallied 0.3%. Growth stocks were getting hit hard though, with the Innovator IBD 50 exchange traded fund falling more than 1%.
Aecom Clears Entry
Construction stock Aecom is trading in a buy zone after clearing a consolidation pattern entry. The ideal buy point here is 98.72. The 5% buy zone runs as high as 103.66.
The stock has been making progress since scoring an earnings beat back on Aug. 5. Overall strong performance is reflected in its Composite Rating of 95, out of 99, from Investor's Business Daily.
Big Money has been snapping up shares of late, with its Accumulation/Distribution Rating sitting at B+. In total, 60% of shares are currently held by funds.
Dow Jones Today: Apple Drops iPhone News
Dow Jones stocks were mixed heading into the close. Apple stock was lower even as the firm teased some iPhone news.
The tech behemoth plans to stream a news conference at its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters on Sept. 9. At the event, which will be streamed both on Apple's website and YouTube, Apple is expected to unveil new iPhone and Apple Watch models.
Consumers also will pay attention in case the firm springs an AI-related surprise on top of its previous announcements. The company previously announced its Apple Intelligence platform. An upgraded Siri will be backed by ChatGPT maker Open AI.
Despite the news, Apple stock was lower heading into the close, though it was comfortably off lows. It remained down 0.2%.
While Apple was struggling for traction, fellow Warren Buffett holding Coca-Cola and Walt Disney fared best on the Dow Jones today with gains of more than 1% each.
Intel was the worst laggard as it fell more than 1%. Amgen and Microsoft also lagged.
1:46 p.m. ET
Stock Market Today: Carl Icahn Stock Dives On Share Offering
Carl Icahn's Icahn Enterprises was getting hammered on the stock market today amid a move to raise $400 million.
The firm posted a filing at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission saying it intends to sell depository units worth up to that value through an "at-the-market" offering program, Reuters reported.
Icahn Enterprises stock got hammered on the news, with shares down more than 13% in afternoon trades. It now sits more than 19% below its 200-day moving average, according to MarketSurge analysis.
In the filing, the company said it plans to use proceeds for the sale for acquisitions and for company purposes. Jefferies plans to act as the sales agent for the share sale program.
The move comes after Icahn settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week after he failed to disclose billions of dollars worth of personal margin loans taken against the value of his company's stock. He agreed to pay $2 million in fines following the probe.
Musk Touts AI Efforts, Tesla Stock Falls
Tesla CEO Musk is often a controversial figure. But he gave his army of social media followers a reason to smile after sharing a video from inside the firm's headquarters earlier Monday.
Musk said on X that the footage of computer mainframes showed Cortex, which he touted as the "giant new AI training supercluster being built at Tesla HQ in Austin to solve real-world AI" problems.
Back in July, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said Tesla is "the most undervalued AI play in the market" and that it is "more of an AI and robotics play than a traditional car company."
Nevertheless, Tesla stock was a laggard on the stock market today. It fell nearly 4%, and has undercut the important 50-day moving average, MarketSurge analysis shows.
12:14 p.m. ET
Stock Market Today: IBD Sector Leader Tests Entry
With the market back in an uptrend, it is a good time to be buying stocks and raising market exposure.
One noteworthy name that attempted to make a bullish move on the stock market today is Shift4.
Shares of the payment processing company briefly cleared a cup-with-handle base entry of 83.64, though they have slipped back below this level.
Earnings have grown by an average of 32% over the past three quarters. Per-share earnings also accelerated in the most recent quarter.
Wall Street expects further improvement, with earnings per share seen swelling 33% this year before growing an additional 29% in 2025, according to MarketSurge data.
Shift4 is a member of the IBD Sector Leaders list, one of Investor's Business Daily's most rigorous and powerful screens. It is an institutional favorite, with 72% of shares currently being held by funds.
The stock was the IBD Stock of the Day pick for Monday.
Nvidia Stock Falls Despite Bullish Call
The stock market has a key hurdle to clear this week when Nvidia earnings drop. The firm posts results after the close Wednesday.
Ahead of the report, Morgan Stanley reiterated its overweight rating of the stock. It has a price target of 144. It said the firm remains a "top pick" and that "regardless of expectations issues," it is still impressed by the firm's strong momentum.
Despite the call, Nvidia stock fell more than 2% on the stock market today. However, it was off lows for the day and remains above its 50-day moving average.
Nvidia has been a key beneficiary of the artificial intelligence trend. It has seen earnings soar by an average of 500% over the past three quarters. The stock is in a new base that offers a 140.76 buy point, MarketSurge analysis shows.
The AI stock is a member of the IBD Leaderboard list of top stocks. Nvidia is up nearly 160% in 2024 and has jumped more than 18% in the past four weeks.
10:39 a.m. ET
Durable Goods Orders Pop
New data from the Commerce Department showed orders for durable goods surged by 9.9% month over month in July. This was well clear of economist expectations for a 4% lift and a reversal of the prior month's revised downwardly 6.9% slump.
Orders for new cars and trucks were up 34.8% last month. This was a sharp rebound from June's 20.6% fall.
When the volatile transportation sector was excluded, orders rose 0.2% last month compared to a 0.1% gain in June. Computers and electronics orders fell 0.7% while machinery orders held steady.
Meanwhile, shipments of core goods, which feeds into GDP, fell 0.4% in July.
Stock Market Today: Temu Parent PDD Hammered
It has been a tough year so far for China stocks, with the iShares MSCI China ETF up just over 4% so far in 2024.
And Temu-parent PDD, one of the communist country's big success stories, was getting hammered on the stock today following disappointing results. Earnings beat views, but second-quarter revenue of 97.06 billion yuan missed Wall Street expectations even as the top line rose sharply year over year.
Management also said increasing competition and investment spending is likely to weigh on results. Co-Chief Executive Lei Chen said the firm is "prepared to accept short-term sacrifices and potential decline in profitability."
PDD flashed multiple sell signals, dropping through the 50-day moving average and its 200-day line, amid a nearly 25% dip.
PDD Holdings is a China-based online retailer that operates the online marketplace Temu, which has been steadily gaining market share from Amazon.com in the U.S. since its launch in 2022.
The stock had also been a member of the IBD Sector Leaders list. However, it dropped off the list Friday amid a sharp dip. It looks unlikely to return any time soon.
SolarEdge Surges On CEO Exit
SolarEdge popped before the open on the stock market today on the announcement Zvi Lando has stepped down as its CEO. However, it reversed lower in opening trade, an initial jump giving way to a drop of around 5%. The stock holds an abysmal IBD Composite Rating of 2 out of 99.
The stock has been in free fall this year, and is now down more than 71% so far in 2024. Election uncertainty and higher interest rates have weighed on solar stocks.
Please follow Michael Larkin on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @IBD_MLarkin for more analysis of growth stocks.
