Wall Street Today: DJIA and S&P 500 Set Record Closes, But Nasdaq Comp Eases Amid Ongoing Government Shutdown
The Dow-30 and S&P 500 set new closing records yet again Friday, although the Nasdaq Composite eased as Wall Street mostly ignored the U.S. government shutdown for a third straight day.
The $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ rose 238.56 points (0.5%) to a best-ever 46,834.11 finish, while the $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ inched up 0.44 ticks (0.01%) to eke out a record 6,715.79 ending.
Both indexes had set record closing highs just one day earlier, as had the $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ . All three market indicators also set all-time intraday highs earlier in Friday's session.
However, the Nasdaq Comp failed to hang on to its intraday gains and ended the day down by 63.55 points (0.3%) at 22,780.51 amid weakness for several "Magnificent Seven" tech stocks.
Macro
The three indexes ended mixed as investors continued to generally brush off the U.S. government shutdown, which is now in its third day.
The government halted all nonessential services at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday when it began a new fiscal year with no official budget in place, denying officials the legal authority to spend money on many operations.
Democrats and U.S. President Donald Trump's Republican Party failed to agree before the deadline on either a one-year budget or a temporary deal to keep the government operating during negotiations.
On Friday, the U.S. Senate rejected dueling Democratic and Republican plans to end the shutdown, but both proposals had no changes from earlier versions that lawmakers had previously turned down.
The two sides disagree on spending levels for Medicaid health insurance for poor Americans, as well as on subsidies to lower costs on health policies that millions of other Americans buy through the so-called "Obamacare" program.
Moo-vers
Although the major indexes ended Friday's session mostly higher, five of the key "Magnificent Seven" stocks finished the day to the downside.
$Meta Platforms (META.US)$ led the Mag-7 decliners, easing 2.3% to a $710.56 finish. The social-media giant has been generally declining for some two weeks, shedding 10.1% since hitting a $790.80 near-term intraday high on Sept. 19.
Electric-vehicle giant $Tesla (TSLA.US)$also fell 1.4%, declining for the second straight day as investors continued to pan the Sept. 30 expiration of $7,500 tax credits for U.S. EV buyers.
Other Mag-7 names to lose altitude on Friday included $Amazon (AMZN.US)$ (off 1.3%), $NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$ (down 0.7%) and $Alphabet-A (GOOGL.US)$ (which ended 0.1% lower).
Only $Apple (AAPL.US)$(up .4%) and $Microsoft (MSFT.US)$ (0.3% better) managed to finish the session higher among the Mag-7 stocks.
Elsewhere on Wall Street, the session's other significant percentage gainers included:
-- $Plug Power (PLUG.US)$, up 34.6%. The hydrogen-energy firm rose after H.C. Wainwright boosted its price target to $7 from a previous $3, reiterating the stock's "Buy" rating. PLUG has gained 67.8% since Monday's close.
-- $Lithium Americas (LAC.US)$, better by 31.8%. The lithium-mining firm, which has been rallying for weeks on word that the U.S. government plans to take a stake in the firm, rose Friday on news that the administration is also in talks with rival $USA Rare Earth (USAR.US)$. USAR gained 14.3% on the news, which represents part of a White House push to boost American production of key industrial metals.
-- Select quantum-computing stocks, which rose strongly for a second day following recent new contracts for $Rigetti Computing (RGTI.US)$. RGTI added another 13.2% Friday, while $Quantum Computing (QUBT.US)$ rose 23.2%, $D-Wave Quantum (QBTS.US)$ gained 12% and $IonQ Inc (IONQ.US)$ finished 5.3% higher.
Conversely, Friday's noteworthy decliners included:
-- $Datavault AI (DVLT.US)$, down 12.4%. The AI-driven data-solutions firm gave back part of a 12.4% gain that it enjoyed Thursday on word of an agreement with Korea Aerospace University to deploy DVLT's VerifyU platform for use with a digital-credentialing system.
-- $Palantir (PLTR.US)$, off 7.5%. The security-tech firm fell on several media reports saying that the U.S. Army had found a "very high risk" of exploitable flaws in one of PLTR's communications systems.
Disclaimer: This presentation is for informational and educational use only and is not a recommendation or endorsement of any particular investment or investment strategy. Indexes are unmanaged and cannot be directly invested in. Past performance is no indication of future results. Investing involves risk and the potential to lose principal. Investment information provided in this content is general in nature, strictly for illustrative purposes, and may not be appropriate for all investors. It is provided without respect to individual investors' financial sophistication, financial situation, investment objectives, investing time horizon, or risk tolerance. You should consider the appropriateness of this information regarding your relevant personal circumstances before making any investment decisions. Past investment performance does not indicate or guarantee future success. Returns will vary, and all investments carry risks, including loss of principal.
Disclaimer: Community is offered by Moomoo Technologies Inc. and is for educational purposes only.
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Jerry Kronenberg
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Former top editor at Seeking Alpha, Fidelity.com, TheStreet.com and UPI.
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72895811 : They disagree on Medicaid for illegal immigrants, not “poor Americans.”
webguybob : I had suspected a mixed day today.
White_Shadow : depends on how long it lasts & what sectors and companies take the hit
71363451 : No immigrant has Medicaid. That’s all propaganda. Show the receipts if there is
BrazeRod 71363451 : can confirm
PayMePlease 72895811 : I work healthcare immigrants always pay in cash and legally can't get Medicaid. Drumpf and his goofs don't give 2 shiz about poor folk as long as they rip up Obamacare they're happy. Memaw will be okay without her feet she'll still be able to vote against her health while drinking that bleach for COVID.
Lioniron 71363451 : In Democrat states or any Democrat run cities and counties they will use Federal money for illegals. Illegals were staying at Hotels, received debit cards, free data plan, free healthcare during Biden’s administration. where were you ? Mars?
ZnWC : Conservative media will report the US government shutdown is caused by the Democrat to secure the healthcare for illegal immigrants. The leftist media will report otherwise and will not show "illegal immigrants"; they often use the term "undocumented immigrants". It depends on which media you want to read.
Read here: Balanced view: Did the Democrats force the US government shutdown to get healthcare for 'illegal immigrants'?
Greattime2BUY : Not so much. Then Sun will come out tomorrow.
75376142 : observation
the senate observation record over stocks and commondities
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