Dow Jones Falls; Tesla Dives On Red Sea Attack As Cathie Wood Piles Up On It

The Dow Jones Industrial Average saw early losses deepen by midday Friday even as inflation data came in cooler than expected. Other major indexes also fell.

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The producer price index for December dropped 0.1% vs. Econoday’s consensus for a 0.2% rise. That is welcome news for investors after Thursday’s consumer price index data, which showed a 0.3% rise for last month.

But losses deepened for Dow Jones stocks, as the index dropped 0.5% in early afternoon trades.

S&P 500 had ventured into positive ground earlier, but was down 0.1% on the stock market today. The Nasdaq hit session lows and traded 0.2% lower. Still, Zscaler (ZS) gained in the tech-heavy Nasdaq while Tesla (TSLA) weighed it down. MercadoLibre (MELI) rose in a flat base and neared a buy point of 1,660.

The small-cap Russell 2000 index succumbed to the larger trends and erased its earlier gains. The index fell 0.2%.

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange was lower, though higher on the Nasdaq exchange compared with the same time on Thursday. Breadth deteriorated as the day advanced. Still, advancers beat decliners by a small margin on the NYSE but lagged decliners on the Nasdaq.

The Innovator IBD 50 (FFTY) exchange traded fund pulled back 0.4%. The fund is trying to work its way toward a 24.95 buy point in a cup with handle.

West Texas intermediate crude oil bounced 1.2% higher to trade at 72.91 a barrel. And the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 1 basis point to 3.96%.

Dow Jones Stocks

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) rose 0.7% after earnings but reversed and lost 0.2% as the session advanced. The financial giant’s fourth-quarter earnings came in above views but sales fell short.  

United Health (UNH) fell below the 50-day moving average and triggered a sell signal. The Dow leader beat fourth-quarter estimates but cited higher medical costs as the percentage of premiums spent to cover health care needs increased.

Tesla Falls On Red Sea Attack

Outside the Dow Jones index, Tesla (TSLA) fell further below its 50-day moving average on Friday. The electric-vehicle giant plans on suspending operations in Berlin for two weeks from Jan. 29 to Feb. 11.

According to the Wall Street Journal, components needed for manufacturing ran short due to the ongoing attacks on vessels in the Red Sea. Earlier, Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest loaded up on Tesla stock on Thursday even as it fell below its key moving averages.

Delta Air Lines (DAL) was an earnings mover Friday. Shares fell but remain in a handle with an entry at 42.70. The airline operator topped expectations yet gave weak earnings views for the fiscal first quarter. Among other airline stocks, United Airlines (UAL) and American Airlines (AAL) fell in sympathy.

Bank Stocks Fall On Earnings

Among the big banks, Wells Fargo (WFC), Bank of America (BAC) and Citigroup (C) all fell on earnings news. C stock tried to break out past a 53.23 entry out of a consolidation earlier in the session but faltered.

Twilio (TWLO) rose after an upgrade to overweight from analysts at Piper Sandler. The stock also got a new price target of 82, up from 75. Shares are rebounding from the 10-week line and are also near an entry at 78.16.

Building maintenance and services stock Rollins (ROL) is trying to break out of a cup with handle with a buy point of 43.91. Shares were flat in recent action.

Among software stocks, OpenText (OTEX) is near a buy point of 43.25 but was down in recent action. And DoubleVerify (DV) is approaching a handle entry at 38 and also reversed lower in light volume.

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

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