Strength in shares of Microsoft (MSFT) gave tech stocks a lift near midday Monday. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 recovered off lows to turn slightly positive amid weakness in the U.S. dollar. JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Visa (V) and Goldman Sachs (GS) were other top performers in the Dow. Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) was a nice gainer in the Nasdaq 100 after reporting strong earnings late Thursday.
President Trump was busy on Twitter early Friday, threatening more tariffs on China while knocking the Federal Reserve for its interest rate policy. Investors sold bonds, lifting the 10-year Treasury yield 5 basis points to 2.89%.
The Nasdaq composite led the way, up 0.4%. The Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 edged up 0.1% to 0.2%. Volume was heavy on the NYSE, partly due to options expiration. Volume on the Nasdaq was tracking just below Thursday’s levels.
Among financials, SunTrust (STI) added nearly 3% to 70.99 as Wall Street liked the look of its second-quarter report. The Atlanta-based regional bank is trying to clear an aggressive entry at 71.24, 10 cents above its June 11 intraday high.
Microsoft Stock Gaps Up
In stock market results today, Microsoft stock gapped up on strong earnings. Headed into earnings, it was extended after a bounce off the 50-day moving average.
Uniform maker Cintas (CTAS) was another earnings winner, up almost 5%, but it’s another example of an extended stock after a breakout from a base in May.
Shares of VF (VFC) also turned in a solid showing, up 4%. The parent of The North Face and Timberland reported better-than-expected earnings and sales growth before the open.
Skechers Stock Falls Hard
On the downside, Skechers (SKX) crashed 23% on an earnings miss as well as the second straight quarter of decelerating sales growth. Industry group peer Deckers Outdoor (DECK) reports earnings next week and has a much healthier technical picture.
Five Below (FIVE) was down 4.5%, hurt by a Credit Suisse downgrade to neutral from outperform. The top-performing retailer is still up nicely after joining Leaderboard on June 6.
