The Dow Jones Industrial Average reversed higher Friday afternoon after a strong payroll number showed that the Fed's rate hikes may stay higher for longer. The blue chip index traded 0.1% higher at closing bell.
The S&P 500 also pared back from an earlier loss and was trading 0.1% lower at 4 p.m. ET. The Nasdaq was down the most in the afternoon after paring steeper early losses. The tech-dominated index was 0.2% lower at market close.
The small-cap Russell 2000 bucked the larger trend and ended the day 0.5% higher.
Volume on the NYSE and on the Nasdaq was lower by double digits compared with the same time on Thursday.
The European Union set the cap on seaborne Russian oil at $60 a barrel on Friday. The cap will be on review and will be "at least 5% below the average market price" according to reports on the EU document. According to experts, a price cap is more difficult to enforce. Early sanctions have targeted volume, not price.
Crude oil fell 1.3% to $80.13 a barrel. OPEC+ is expected to cut production to stabilize oil prices on Sunday. On Monday, the cap on Russian oil will come into effect following a formal announcement of the EU's decision.
Payrolls rose to 263,000 in November against views of 200,000. The unemployment rate of 3.7% was unchanged. Average hourly wages rose 0.6%, bringing the increase to 5.1% for the 12 month period.
The tight labor market as inflation cools suggests it may be easier for the Fed to raise interest rates higher and for longer. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 1 basis point to 3.5%.
Leaders On Watch
Dow Jones leaders to watch include Caterpillar, which continues to try to break out of a cup base with a buy point of 238. Johnson & Johnson is building a cup base with a buy point of 186.79.
Celsius and Enphase are bucking the broader market weakness. Celsius is just below its buy point of 118.29, while Enphase's solid 7% gain today extended the stock above its 316.97 buy point.
Genmab is building a long cup with a buy point of 49.17. Cactus is in a cup-with-handle base and a buy point of 58.40. TotalEnergies had climbed above a buy point of 61.25 but fell below that level today.
Celsius and Enphase are Leaderboard stocks. Genmab, Cactus and TotalEnergies are on the IBD 50.
Solar stocks SolarEdge and the Invesco Solar ETF were up along with Enphase. SEDG is building a double-bottom base with a buy point of 324.42 while TAN is in a cup base with a buy point of 91.22.
Chip stock MobileEye broke out of another IPO base with a buy point of 31.98.
Elsewhere, shares of Tesla reversed at closing bell after slipping over 1%. Tesla's Semi branded truck rolled out on Friday. The first shipment of the all-electric semi trailer trucks landed at PepsiCo's door this morning. Tesla shares notched 0.06% higher.
Earnings Deck Outside Dow Jones
Cracker Barrel is triggering the sell rule after earnings today. Shares were above a buy point of 114.88 but have fallen over 12% below it in strong volume. The stock has sliced through its 50- and 200-day lines. Sales of $839 million grew 7% but earnings of 99 cents a share were lower by a staggering 35% from last year.
Down over 4%, Zscaler saw sales of $355.6 million grow 54% while per-share earnings of 29 cents grew a whopping 107% from last year. Shares fell over 10% after the cloud security provider was cautious in its outlook.
Follow Vidya Ramakrishnan @IBD_VRamakrishnan for more news on the stock market today.
