The Nasdaq composite outperformed Friday in an uneventful session that saw the Dow Jones industrial lag, mostly due to weakness in IBM (IBM) and American Express (AXP), which both reported earnings.
X IBM gapped down, falling 4%, despite reporting a 4% rise in sales. That news was offset by gross margin and operating margin that came in below views. American Express, meanwhile, lost nearly 2% after reporting earnings and announcing it's suspending its share buyback program for the first half of 2018.
The Nasdaq ended a shortened week of trading with a gain of nearly 0.6%; the S&P 500 picked up 0.4% and the Dow added 0.2%. Major stock indexes extended their weekly win streaks to three, shrugging off the threat of a possible government shutdown. Small caps were the stars of the day as the Russell 2000 jumped 1.2%. It's not far from cracking through the 1,600 level.
The U.S. dollar was weak again, near a three-year low, while the 10-year Treasury yield added 2 basis points to 2.64%.
Among the FANG names, Amazon.com (AMZN) gave back early gains, but still rose 0.1%, on news it's raising its monthly Prime membership to $12.99 from $10.99.
Netflix (NFLX), meanwhile, got a flurry of price target hikes ahead of its earnings report Monday after the close. Shares rose less than 0.1% ahead of the results.
In the stock market today, Nvidia (NVDA) was a nice gainer in the Nasdaq 100, helped by positive comments from BofA Merrill Lynch. Shares rose 2.5% to 230.11. A breakout from late-stage base is working well so far.
In the biotech space, shares of Acorda Therapeutics (ACOR) jumped around 9% on news it could be an acquisition target of Biogen (BIIB). Earnings from Biogen, which is still in buy range from a 335.90 buy point, are due Thursday before the open.
The outperformance of growth stocks since the start of the year has been a sight to behold. The IBD 50 was in the driver's seat again Friday, with nearly half the names on the list up 1% or more. Leaderboard name and IBD 50 component Floor & Decor (FND) hit an all-time high, rising more than 3% to 51.
Breakouts from bases were sparse but retailer Big Lots (BIG) passed muster, rising 3% to 61.18. It ended the week well within buy range from a 60.30 entry.
Earnings season starts to kick into gear with reports due from Netflix, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) and Lam Research (LRCX) as well as Dow components Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Travelers (TRV).
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