Sellers hit technology stocks in the stock market early Friday. Buyers lifted indexes off lows for a bit, but seller knocked the Nasdaq composite lower again in afternoon trading. Earnings reports from tech heavyweights Apple, Google-parent Alphabet, Amazon.com and Qualcomm were in the spotlight.
Chip stock Cirrus Logic was a top gainer in the MarketSmith Growth 250 after the company reported strong results. World Wrestling Entertainment also outperformed after a boutique firm reiterated a buy rating and lifted the price target to 95.
The Nasdaq was down 0.9% just after 1 p.m. ET. The S&P 500 gave back 0.7% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average eased 0.3%. Volume on the NYSE and Nasdaq was lower compared to the same time Thursday.
The January jobs report came in much hotter than expected. Nonfarm payrolls increased 517,000 in January, well above the Econoday consensus of 185,000.
The Federal Reserve has made it abundantly clear it wants a softening jobs market to help bring inflation down. Governors are hoping for a rising unemployment rate but that didn't happen Friday, with the key number dropping to 3.4%. Economists had expected a slight increase to 3.6%.
There was some good news in the report. The labor force participation rate increased to 62.4%, from 62.3% in December. In addition, wage growth met expectations.
The 10-year Treasury yield was up 12 basis points to 3.52%.
Start Trading Options With An Edge: OptionTrader By IBD
Apple stock showed strength in the Dow Jones today, paring a 2.5% premarket loss to a gain of 2.5%. Earnings and revenue missed expectations as CEO Tim Cook blamed a strong U.S. dollar, production snags in China and a weak overall macroeconomic environment.
Besides Apple, several stocks outperformed in the Dow Jones with gains of at least 2%, including Caterpillar, Intel and American Express.
In the retail sector, Nordstrom soared more than 20% after the Wall Street Journal reported that activist investor Ryan Cohen is building a "sizable stake".
Stock Market Today
The Nasdaq composite slumped 2.1% early, weighed down by weakness in Alphabet and Amazon.com.
Amazon reported better-than-expected revenue but missed on earnings. Revenue at the Amazon Web Services cloud computing unit increased 20% to $21.4 billion, slowing from 27.5% Q3 growth.
Google missed on earnings and revenue, with ad sales down 3% to $59.04 billion, below the $60.58 billion consensus estimate. But GOOGL stock pared a 4.8% intraday loss to just 0.6% at the noon hour. Google YouTube unit revenue fell more than 7% to $7.96 billion, just below the $8.22 billion consensus. Cloud revenue jumped 32% to $7.32 billion, also slightly below estimates.
Buyers pushed Tesla higher again after the China Passenger Car Association said Tesla shipped 66,051 vehicles from its Shanghai plant in January, up 18% from December and up 10% year over year. TSLA stock was up 1.5%.
How Did Your Online Broker Do In IBD's 2023 Best Online Broker Survey?
S&P 500 component Qualcomm rallied all the way back to even after testing its 200-day moving average. The company reported adjusted profit of $2.41 per share, down 25% year over year. Revenue fell 12% to $9.46 billion. Revenue at the CDMA Technologies unit, which includes smartphone chips, automotive chips and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, fell 11% to $7.89 billion.
Chip Stocks Weak
Despite QCOM's impressive rally off lows, the VanEck Semiconductor ETF was still down 1%. Qualcomm is in the fund's top-10 holdings. Other top holdings Taiwan Semiconductor and Nvidia were down 1.4% and 1.8%, respectively.
Other earnings losers included Bill.com, down 25%, and Atlassian, down 7%.
Follow Ken Shreve on Twitter @IBD_KShreve for more stock market analysis and insight.
