Major indexes dropped to session lows at the close Friday as looming tariffs took a toll on stocks. Meanwhile, Apple and Nvidia broke key levels, while MicroStrategy edged lower amid a new offering on the stock market today.
Late Friday, the White House said President Donald Trump had ordered the implementation of aggressive tariffs on key trading partners as early as Saturday. The plan is to impose 25% tariffs on products from Mexico and Canada, and a 10% charge on goods from China. According to reports, almost 30% of all imported goods in the U.S. come from its trading neighbors.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average reeled under the news and dropped 337 points for a loss of 0.8%. After some positive progress in the morning, the S&P 500 reversed direction and finished 0.5% lower. Among the S&P sectors, energy lagged the most and only two sectors, communication services and consumer discretionary gained.
Also, the Nasdaq composite also gave up early robust gains and sank by 0.3% at the close. All three major indexes managed to remain above their 50-day moving averages, however.
Volume fell on the New York Stock Exchange and remained higher on the Nasdaq compared with the same time on Thursday. Breadth deteriorated rapidly with decliners engulfing advancers by around 5-to-2 on the NYSE and roughly 2-to-1 on the Nasdaq.
The small-cap Russell 2000 dropped 0.6% and sliced through its 50-day line. The Innovator IBD 50 also fell below that key level of support when it ended the day unchanged — a sharp departure from strong gains in the morning. The ETF is in a flat base with a buy point of 32.24.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose four basis points to 4.55%.
Stock Market Today: A Breakout For Hims & Hers
In stocks, Hims & Hers Health broke out from a cup base at 35.02. The buy zone goes as high as 36.77. And the relative strength line is at a new high, a bullish sign.
Shopify pulled back from a buy point of 120.72 while Gitlab also failed to get past an entry at 73.50. Shopify plans to report on Feb. 11. The stock holds ideal Composite and EPS Ratings of 99.
Palantir Technologies, a top holding in the IBD 50 index, gained 1.5% and eked out a new closing high Friday. The company is due to report earnings next week.
Dow Jones Stocks: Nvidia, Apple Break Key Level
Nvidia dropped nearly 4% Friday. The stock fell below its 200-day moving average again after Monday's news of DeepSeek's cheaper artificial intelligence model cast the stock back below its 50-day moving average. Nvidia's relative strength line has taken a hit while its Relative Strength Rating has fallen from 93 back to 88 in just one week.
Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang met President Trump on Friday to discuss export curbs for Nvidia chips and the risk from China-based DeepSeek.
Apple sank a fraction as opening gains for the tech giant disintegrated. The stock had climbed back above its 50-day moving average in higher volume earlier in the session, but was back below it to wrap up the week.
Apple reported earnings late Thursday. First-quarter sales of $124.3 billion met views while earnings per share of $2.40 beat estimates by 5 cents. Sales from iPhones declined 1%, but services revenue rose 13.9%. Computer, tablet and wearables sales also increased. Apple stock hit an all-time high of 260.10 in December but pulled back in January.
Bitcoin Play Switches Gears
Among bitcoin plays, MicroStrategy reversed course and finished the day nearly 2% lower. MicroStrategy, the largest corporate bitcoin holder, priced $584 million of 8% convertible preferred stock at $80 per share vs. the original anticipated price of $100, increasing the yield to 10% as a result.
Shares fell below the 50-day moving average last Friday and remain below it. The stock fell 11% last week and is headed for a 2% loss this week.
3:01 p.m. ET
Spotify Breaks Eight-Day Winning Streak
Spotify edged lower, breaking an eight-day winning streak ahead of its earnings report on Tuesday. The recent IBD Stock Of The Day broke out of a cup base at 506.47 about a week ago, according to IBD MarketSurge.
Spotify's Composite Rating is 98. Spotify is a holding on both IBD Leaderboard and SwingTrader.
2:04 p.m. ET
Stock Market Today: Atlassian Soars On Results
Software firm Atlassian soared after its results were announced, and the stock broke out of a cup base. Sales grew 21% to $1.29 billion while earnings rose 32% to 96 cents a share. Growth in its cloud and data center segments increased.
For the March quarter, the company expects sales of $1.35 billion at the midpoint. Further, the stock has a Composite Rating of 99 and its relative strength line is at a new high.
11:59 a.m. ET
Key Inflation Gauge Meets Views
The Fed's preferred inflation gauge, the personal consumption and expenditures index, rose 0.3% from November and 2.6% on an annual basis in December, meeting views. Also, core inflation held no surprises, rising 0.2% month on month and 2.8% annually.
Personal income met estimates for a 0.4% increase but expenditures rose 0.7% on a monthly basis. Economists had expected tamer spending of 0.5% in December.
Federal Reserve Gov. Michelle Bowman noted during comments delivered Friday that upside risks to inflation remained in place.
10:44 a.m. ET
Stock Market Today: Chevron Triggers Sell Signal
Energy giant Chevron reported results early Friday and triggered a sell signal. Sales increased 10.7% to $52.23 billion, exceeding views of $46.6 billion. But earnings fell 40% to $2.06 per share. Analysts had estimated $2.11 in earnings per share. The stock fell below the 50-day and 200-day moving averages in heavy volume.
Are These Magnificent Seven Stocks A Buy Now?
Alphabet | Amazon | Apple | Meta | Microsoft | Nvidia | Tesla
Deckers plunged and triggered a sell signal by undercutting the 50-day moving average in heavy volume. Sales and earnings growth decelerated from the prior quarter. The shoemaker also gave a 15% sales growth outlook for 2025. Shares are retreating from their all-time high while the relative strength line is also falling.
Please follow VRamakrishnan on X/Twitter for more news on the stock market today.