Early gains faded for the stock market Friday ahead of the three-day weekend. Salesforce and Chevron outperformed in the Dow Jones today, while Lululemon Athletica and Broadcom led the Nasdaq 100, boosted by strong earnings reports.
Salesforce bucked the trend with a modest gain after Guggenheim upgraded the enterprise software firm to neutral from sell. Chevron fell off highs but still rose 1.5% amid another day of outperformance for oil and gas stocks.
LULU stock faded after a strong start, but shares still rose nearly 7% after the company reported strong growth across several metrics and raised its revenue outlook. Total revenue increased 29% to $1.87 billion, with same-store sales up 23%. Store traffic rose more than 30%, with e-commerce up 40%.
Stock Market Today
After rising 1.4% earlier today, the Nasdaq composite closed with a loss of 1.3%. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 1.1% each. Preliminary data showed lower volume on the NYSE and Nasdaq ahead of the Labor Day weekend.
U.S. Stock Market Today Overview |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Index | Symbol | Price | Gain/Loss | % Change |
| Dow Jones | (0DJIA) | 31318.84 | -337.58 | -1.07 |
| S&P 500 | (0S&P5) | 3924.41 | -42.44 | -1.07 |
| Nasdaq | (0NDQC ) | 11630.87 | -154.26 | -1.31 |
| Russell 2000 | 180.12 | -1.38 | -0.76 | |
| IBD 50 | 27.68 | +0.28 | +1.02 | |
Last Update: 4:08 PM ET 9/2/2022 |
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The distribution day count for the Nasdaq and S&P 500 has been on the rise in recent weeks. The S&P 500 shows four higher-volume declines since Aug. 19. The Nasdaq shows four since Aug. 17.
Increasing signs of institutional selling in the indexes have made it a difficult environment for investors to make money in the stock market. And don't forget that the past two Septembers were tough months for the stock market. Last year, the Nasdaq slumped 5.3% in September. In 2020, the index fell 5.1%.
The stock market initially cheered the August jobs report before the open, which showed a nice jump in the labor force participation rate. Nonfarm payrolls increased 315,000 in August, a little above the 293,000 consensus estimate. The unemployment rate increased to 3.7% and the labor force participation rate increased to 62.4% from 62.1%.
The jobs report lowered the probability of a 75-basis-point hike at the Sept. 21-22 Federal Reserve meeting. But fed funds futures traders still think there's a 58% chance that the Fed will hike by 75 basis points. That's down from more than 70% Thursday.
At the New York Mercantile Exchange, U.S. crude oil futures settled at $86.87 a barrel, up 0.3%. Natural gas futures were down 4.2% just before 4 p.m. ET.
Russia's Gazprom said its key gas pipeline to Europe won't reopen Saturday as originally planned due to an oil leak. The pipeline news came after the Group of Seven nations backed price caps for Russian oil.
Oil and gas stocks dominated the upside in the MarketSmith Growth 250. Talos Energy jumped 6.6%. It's still forming the right side of a V-shape base. Strong earnings and sales growth over the past three quarters help boost TALO's Composite Rating of 98.
Energy Stocks On The Move
After a test of its 21-day exponential moving average Thursday, small cap Montauk Renewables surged nearly 6%. The company's specialty is capturing methane and turning it into renewable natural gas.
Ovintiv rallied 3.4%. It's holding above short-term support levels as it forms the right side of a base.
How To Know It's Time To Sell Your Favorite Stock
Among oil refiners, CVR Energy was poised to end a five-session slide after coming close to its 50-day moving average Thursday. Shares rallied 6.5% as the stock forms a cup-with-handle base with a 37.73 buy point. Group peer HF Sinclair jumped above its 21-day line, rising nearly 5%.
Solar stocks were volatile again. Invesco Solar ETF, which counts Enphase and First Solar as its two top holdings, fell 2.4%. TAN is close to a test of its 50-day moving average, which is near its last buy point of 78.92.
Among China stocks, Pinduoduo is holding gains well after gapping up Monday on earnings. The company operates an e-commerce platform in China. Revenue growth accelerated nicely from the prior quarter, up 31% to $4.69 billion.
Follow Ken Shreve on Twitter @IBD_KShreve for more stock market analysis and insight.
