Dow, S&P Close To Erasing Gains; Cathie Wood Scoops Up Falling Stock As Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Earnings Loom

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and other indexes lost all their earlier gains and traded lower in afternoon trading.

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The Dow was down 0.3% with little more than an hour of trading left. The Nasdaq was down 0.1% and the S&P fell 0.3%. The small-cap Russell 2000 lost all gains and was flat.

Volume on the NYSE  and Nasdaq was lower vs. the same time Thursday.

Hiring remained strong in July as the economy added 187,000 jobs after June’s revised 185,000 payrolls increase, according to Econoday. The unemployment rate edged down to 3.5% vs. the consensus forecast of 3.6%.

According to the Labor Department’s news release, nonfarm payroll rose “less than the average monthly gain of 312,000 over the prior 12 months. In July, job gains occurred in health care, social assistance, financial activities and wholesale trade.”

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 11 basis points to 4.07%.

The Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) fell 1%.

Crude oil rose nearly 2% to $83.11 a barrel after Saudi Arabia said it is extending a production cut of 1 million barrels of oil a day into September.

Dow Jones Stocks

Apple (AAPL) pared some early losses and traded nearly 3% lower in the afternoon. Hardware sales slumped, slightly offset by services revenue. The stock has gapped below its 50-day moving average in heavy trading, a move that can be considered a sell signal.

Amgen (AMGN), another Dow stock, jumped after earnings topped estimates. The stock rebounded after falling near its 50-day line but faces potential resistance at the 200-day moving average.

Amazon.com (AMZN) — not a Dow component but still a major part of the Nasdaq and S&P 500 — surged more than 10% following a solid Q2 report and higher guidance. The stock climbed to a one-year high and is currently the best performer in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Futures: What To Do After Market Skids; 5 Stocks Near Buy Points

Stocks Moving Today

Among software stocks, Atlassian (TEAM) surged 15% on a strong cloud-growth forecast after the company released quarterly results. Cloudflare (NET) rose 10% on a beat-and-raise quarter.

But Fortinet (FTNT) gapped down to a loss of nearly 25% in huge volume, breaking the 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The cybersecurity company said some customers are delaying deals due to economic uncertainty.

The news sparked selling in other security software stocks. Palo Alto Networks (PANW) gapped below its 50-day line in heavy volume. CrowdStrike (CRWD) fell to test its 50-day line. IBD’s cybersecurity industry group is down 2.7%, the second worst group Friday among 197 industries.

Digital Ocean (DOCN), a cloud software company, gapped down as well on a soft outlook after earnings amid tightening consumer spending. The stock sliced through its 50-day line in heavy trading.

Outside Dow Jones, Booking Holdings (BKNG) rose nearly 10% to a new high after strong results and continued travel demand.

Fisker (FSR) fell after the EV rival to Tesla (TSLA) reported continued losses and also cut its production outlook.

Tupperware (TUP) popped after a new debt restructuring deal that will allow it to continue operations. The company has been warning for a while now that it may go out of business and has been volatile amid speculative meme action.

DraftKings (DKNG) held some of its huge early gains after earnings and was up more than 2% in afternoon trading, nearing a seven-month high. DKNG is a holding on IBD Leaderboard.

Late Thursday, Square parent Block (SQ) reported strong sales from its CashApp. But gross payments volume came in lower than expected. SQ stock fell below its 50-day and 200-day lines in the stock market today.

Microchip Technologies (MCHP) fell after it announced earnings and is losing support at the 50-day line. The chip company warned of a global slowdown in key markets.

Berkshire Hathaway Earnings On Deck

Shares of Icahn Enterprises (IEP) plunged after the company announced it cut its dividend by half.

Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest scooped up nearly half a million shares of Robinhood (HOOD) across three of her ETFs, according to the firm’s disclosures. HOOD stock fell on earnings on Thursday and is paring some losses Friday.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB) will report its second quarter results on Saturday. The stock is near a 52-week high.

Please follow VRamakrishnan on Twitter for more news on the stock market today.

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