Volatility was the market watchword Thursday as major indexes wavered in the last hour of trading and investors awaited a crucial jobs report. Nvidia rose amid reports of a possible ban on China's DeepSeek, as Amazon.com edged higher ahead of earnings results. Also among the day's movers was a Cathie Wood holding that plunged on the stock market today.
Markets witnessed divergence as blue chips on the Dow dropped 0.3%, or 125 points, while the S&P climbed 0.4% after flirting with a loss in afternoon trades. The Nasdaq composite finished 0.5% higher, also after falling early in the afternoon.
Preliminary figures show volume was higher on the New York Stock Exchange but slightly lower on the Nasdaq compared with the same time on Wednesday. Participation worsened with decliners taking the lead over advancers on both exchanges.
The small-cap Russell 2000 gave back its early gains and fell 0.4%. After a strong 2.3% gain on Wednesday, the Innovator IBD 50 exchange traded fund pulled back 0.2%. Palantir and Dave were big gainers in the fund.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose two basis points to 4.44%.
Among the S&P sectors, financials and consumer staples gained while energy and health care lagged.
3:24 p.m. ET
Jobless Claims Higher Than Expected
In economic news, the Labor Department said initial jobless claims for the week came in at 219,000 compared with 207,000 in the prior week. That came in higher than estimates for 215,000, according to Econoday.
January's job report is due Friday. Nonfarm payroll additions are expected to come in at 168,000, well below December's strong gains of 256,000.
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2:01 p.m. ET
Dow Jones: Nvidia Stock Rises On DeepSeek News
Nvidia rose Thursday after regaining its 200-day moving average on Wednesday. Lawmakers are considering a ban on DeepSeek's chatbot on government devices, according to the Wall Street Journal. DeepSeek has emerged as a strong rival to U.S.-made artificial intelligence technology that runs on Nvidia's chips.
Other gainers in the Dow included Caterpillar — which bounced off its 200-day line — Boeing and Magnificent Seven stocks Microsoft and Amazon.
Amazon stock rose ahead of its fourth-quarter report, due after the market close Thursday. Shares hit an all-time high of 242.52 on Tuesday and have gained more than 15% from a buy point of 201.20 as they approach a profit-taking zone. Amazon has a perfect Composite Rating of 99 although its EPS Rating lags at 78.
12:20 p.m. ET
TTM, Magnite Hit Buy Zones
TTM Technologies gapped up and broke out to an all-time high from a consolidation at a buy point of 28. A blue dot on its chart on IBD MarketSurge shows that the relative strength is also at a new high.
Shares have pulled back to just below the buy point. Needham raised its price target on the contract tech manufacturer to 33 from 30, Dow Jones reported.
Magnite also broke out of a consolidation, this one from an 18.38 buy point. The relative strength line is at a new high. Volume tracked nearly two times the average for the advertising platform operator.
10:49 a.m. ET
Breakouts In Stock Market Today
A few other breakouts were seen on Thursday. Marriott broke out at a 295.45 buy point. Volume was nearly double its average, and the relative strength line was near new highs. Both are bullish signals for the breakout.
Bank of America tested a 47.51 handle entry, but volume was merely the average pace on Thursday.
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Banking app operator Dave edged past a 108.50 entry in heavy trading. Its relative strength line also made a new high. The buy zone goes to 113.93. But at market close the stock fell below the buy point.
Gambling rose into a buy zone from a 16.09 buy point of a cup base but pulled back below the entry. However, the relative strength line is at a new high and volume ran nearly three times its usual rate.
Stock Market Today: Arm Falls
Arm Holdings fell even though third-quarter sales of $983 million and earnings per share of 39 cents were above estimates of 34 cents per share on sales of $949 million. Its outlook for the current quarter was in line with views.
Shares had rallied into earnings and broke past the buy zone from a 164.16 entry. But the stock pulled back into the buy zone Thursday. Arm also is giving back some of Wednesday's 7% gain.
MicroStrategy rebranded itself as Strategy and reported a loss of $3.03 per share in the fourth quarter compared with a 56-cent profit the prior year. Sales fell to $120.7 million from $124.5 million.
Shares fell and remained below the 50-day moving average. The relative strength line, which compares the stock with the S&P 500, has also started falling. The stock holds a weak Composite Rating of 60.
Cathie Wood Holding Dives
Elsewhere, online gaming stock Roblox plunged after fourth-quarter earnings were announced. The stock — which is in the ARK Innovation and ARK Next Generation Internet ETF headed by Cathie Wood — had just soared to a three-year high.
But Roblox reported that average daily active users rose to 85.3 million, missing analyst targets calling for 88.4 million. Its full-year outlook for bookings also indicated slowing growth, as the company expects $5.25 billion in bookings, or a 20% increase, after 24% growth in 2024. Roblox stock fell in heavy volume and tested the 50-day moving average.
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Earnings also moved obesity drug leader Eli Lilly. Lilly earnings of $5.32 per share were above estimates of $5.06. The company confirmed preliminary sales results of $13.5 billion for the fourth quarter. Shares rose above the 200-day moving average but they've yet to undo the damage from an October sell-off that followed third-quarter results. The 200-day line is above the 50-day moving average — a bearish sign.
Rival drugmaker Viking Therapeutics fell in the stock market today after the company did not give any updates on its experimental obesity drug in its earnings report Wednesday. Shares were in a downtrend ahead of the report and fell further below the 50-day moving average.
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