- Stocks have pared midmorning gains, currently trading near mid-range on a generally quiet Friday session, many sidelined ahead next week's FOMC policy announcement on Wednesday. Currently, S&P E-Mini future are up 9 points (0.21%) at 4307, DJIA up 47.67 points (0.14%) at 33880.9, Nasdaq up 50 points (0.4%) at 13287.65.
- Leading gainers: Consumer Discretionary and Information Technology sector are outperforming. Auto makers lead the former, notably Tesla (+4.15%), GM (+1.15%) and Ford (+1.00%) following reports that GM will adapt it's EV cars to Tesla's charging network of approximately 12,000 "superchargers" (already adopted by Ford).
- IT sector shares were mixed on net, but gains from Adobe (+4.15%), AMD (+3.15%), Qualcomm (+2.5%), Oracle (+2.0%) outperformed session laggers.
- Laggers: Materials, Real Estate and Industrial sectors underperformed. Chemical stocks traded weaker: FMC (-3.6%), IFF (-2.95%), DOW (-1.95%). Energy stocks sagged with a decline in crude on the day (WTI -1.0 at 70.29).
- For a technical perspective, S&P futures cleared recent highs earlier. This confirms a resumption of the uptrend and maintains the bullish price sequence of higher highs and higher lows, marking an extension of the bull cycle that started in October 2022. The focus is on 4327.50, Aug 16 2022 high (cont). The 50-day EMA, at 4165.06 marks a key support. A break would signal a reversal. Initial firm support is at 4217.92, the 20-day EMA.
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