The stock market extended gains Friday morning as investors mulled fresh consumer confidence data. Procter & Gamble (PG) and Wal-Mart (WMT) were early leaders in the Dow with gains of about 2%.
The Dow Jones industrial average outperformed with a 1% gain; the S&P 500 added 0.9% and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.8%. Small caps lagged somewhat with the Russell 2000 up 0.7%.
In economic news, consumer sentiment hit 91.2 in September, slightly above the consensus estimate of 90.1, according to latest data from the University of Michigan.
Negative headlines in the financial sector weighed on stocks Thursday as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq suffered another distribution day. Shares of Deutsche Bank (DB) rebounded 12% early Friday on reports of a possible Justice Department settlement after slumping 7% Thursday to a record low. Shares of Wells Fargo (WFC), meanwhile, rose 0.3% as the banking giant remained mired in a cross-selling scandal. Since hitting a high of 51 on Sept. 1, shares are down about 13%
In the stock market today, Costco (COST) jumped 4% after the retailer reported adjusted profit of $1.77 a share, slightly better than expected and up 2% from the year-ago quarter. Sales also rose 2% to $36.56 billion.
IBD'S TAKE: Costco's industry group, Retail-Major Discount Chains, ranks near the bottom of IBD's 197 industry group rankings. Big profits can be made in the stock market by looking at leading stock in leading industry groups.
NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) added more than 8% after soaring 17% Thursday on reports that Qualcomm (QCOM) is a potential suitor. Qualcomm rose nearly 4% after rising 6% Thursday.
Volume was heavy in chipmaker Macom (MTSI) Thursday as shares rose 1% to 41.10. Shares rose nearly 3% Friday. It's working on a cup-with-handle base with a 44.20 entry. Macom has also been mentioned in the past as a potential takeover target.
In IPO news, Nutanix opened 66% higher after pricing at 16, above a proposed range of 13-15. The company offers a cloud platform that integrates servers, virtualization software and storage into one solution. It will trade under the ticker NTNX.
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