Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq mixed amid volatile week

Nearly four out of five S&P 500 stocks are advancing this morning, with Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) among the companies hitting record highs even as chip stocks extend their selloff.

Advancing stocks outnumber decliners nearly 4 to one, with nearly 400 rising stocks and about 100 falling stocks. Ten of the eleven S&P 500 sectors are higher, led by financials (XLF) and energy (XLE).

New intraday highs extend well beyond the payments sector. MetLife (MET), McKesson (MCK) and Expeditors International (EXPD) are also setting records, along with ConocoPhillips (COP) and Box (BOX). The American Dow Jones consumer credit (^DJUSSF) and reinsurance (^DJUSIU) indices join them.

Chips are another story.

The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) is losing more than 2%, preparing for a ninth straight decline – the first since 2006. In a Yahoo Finance semiconductor basket, 57 of 60 stocks are down.

Watch to see if widespread buying continues throughout the session. This would strengthen the argument that investors are finding alternatives to struggling AI leaders.

U.S. stocks remained largely flat at Friday’s open as investors looked for direction after turbulent days.

As of Friday’s open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) gained 0.4%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) gained 0.1% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell 0.3%.

For the week through Thursday, the Dow is up while the Nasdaq is down and the S&P 500 is slightly down.

CoreWeave (CRWV) may have trapped some new bears on Thursday.

This morning’s pullback is testing the bulls.

The stock falls about 5% before the bell after Thursday’s dramatic reversal. The stock briefly fell below $60, close to its late July low, before recovering to finish up nearly 6%.

It’s a bear trap – a breakdown that reverses, catching traders betting on further losses.

This morning, stocks retraced about half of their advance from Thursday’s low to the overnight high. For technicians, this places a potential entry for new bulls around the middle of the bounce – near $65 and change.

“First of all, this is driven more by sentiment. It’s not about fundamentals,” Tal Liani, senior software analyst at BofA Securities, told Yahoo Finance when asked what would prevent CoreWeave from selling.

Liani maintained a Buy rating and $140 price target despite funding concerns, as my colleague Brian Sozzi reported.

The big test remains $60. By holding it above, the bear trap would remain intact. A sustainable recovery would bring up potential resistance around $92 to $93, then $120. Losing Thursday’s low at $60 would hurt the bullish setup.

Shares of Michael Saylor’s Juggernaut Bitcoin Strategy (MSTR) fell more than 3% in premarket trading Friday after index provider MSCI announced new eligibility rules that could lead to the Bitcoin giant’s removal from its global stock indexes.

MSCI announced Thursday that it would adopt new rules to exclude certain “non-operating companies” from its indices, including those whose primary business resembles that of an investment fund rather than a traditional operating company.

The exclusion could include Strategy, the world’s largest Bitcoin holding company, as well as other digital asset treasury companies such as MetaPlanet. The exclusion is expected to force index funds to sell shares of affected companies.

MSCI said it would publish a final list of affected companies on November 11, with the new rules taking effect after the market close on November 30.

Strategy, led by Executive Chairman Saylor, has previously criticized the proposal as discriminatory against digital asset treasury companies. The company currently holds around 4% of the total Bitcoin supply.

More S&P 500 stocks are rising than falling before the bell. Potato chip stocks are still heading south.

Progressors among S&P 500 constituents outnumber decliners by more than 2 to 1, with 224 up, 106 down and 173 unchanged. S&P 500 futures (ES=F) are up slightly while Nasdaq futures (NQ=F) are sliding. Both remain negative for the week.

The stealthy stock purchases seen this morning extend a broader rotation. Through Thursday, 366 of the S&P’s components — 73% — were up for the week. Since October 6, nearly 70% has gained, even as the index has lost about 1%.

The chips remain under pressure.

The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) falls more than 1%, putting a ninth straight loss in play. Its only nine-day losing streak ended in May 2006. The fund then fell another 17% to its July closing low two decades ago.

Meanwhile, Salesforce (CRM) and ServiceNow (NOW) each added more than 1% after Thursday’s rallies. Buyers lift 33 of 45 shares in a Yahoo Finance software basket. Software – formerly cyber security – has been a recent source of strength, contrasting with the semiconductor business.

See if this participation survives the opening bell. Continued buying beyond chips would show that investors are sticking to alternatives to struggling executives.

Shares of Truist Financial (TFC) fell more than 2% premarket after the regional banking giant reported third-quarter earnings that fell short of analyst expectations.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based lender reported adjusted earnings of $1.16 per share, up 12% from a year earlier but lower than the $1.19 analysts expected, according to RBC Capital Markets. Reported profit came in at $0.56 per share, reflecting a $1.4 billion loss from selling bonds as part of an effort to reposition its balance sheet.

Truist’s stock has lagged its rivals since it emerged from a so-called merger of equals between BB&T and SunTrust that closed in December 2019. The bank has since continued to shake up parts of its business.

Truist reported net interest income of $3.66 billion in the third quarter, up slightly from last year. The bank also announced that it had decided to further simplify its operations during the quarter.

Earlier this week, Truist sold $7.7 billion in unsecured consumer loans to private equity giant Carlyle Group. This comes after selling $5.5 billion in prime auto loans to Apollo Global Management last month. (Disclosure: Yahoo is a holding company for funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management.)

“We delivered a strong quarter while taking decisive steps to better position Truist for the future,” the bank’s new CEO, Mike Lyons, said in a statement.

Jake Conley of Yahoo Finance reports:

Yields are above multi-decade highs, gasoline and diesel prices continue to rise, and crucial midterm elections approach.

Adding to the pressure on the U.S. economy and the current administration, the world’s two largest hot wars are escalating.

In the Middle East, the two fronts along the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea have seen a resurgence of conflict in recent weeks that has severely disrupted oil flows in the region.

Several oil tankers and container ships in the Strait of Hormuz have caught fire or sank this week in the Iranian-dominated waterway. The Washington Institute has identified more than twenty attacks recorded since the start of the month.

Learn more here,

Pras Subramanian of Yahoo Finance reports:

After a two-week delay, the Tesla (TSLA) Roadster event went ahead with a huge bang – a flying event.

The wedge-shaped, cyberpunk-looking Roadster EV appeared in front of an inverted half-roller coaster ramp erected at SpaceX’s facility in Waco, Texas. The Roadster rolled halfway up – stuck to the ramp using a vacuum fan system – then took off from the ramp upside down and flipped in the air, using pneumatic thrusters to right itself and land on the tarmac.

Tesla stock rose 5.4% in pre-market trading Friday following the Roadster event.

Learn more here.