The Nasdaq composite held a solid gain in afternoon trading Friday, up 1.4%. Penn National Gaming (PENN) led the gaming/equipment group to a gain of nearly 6%. Shares soared more than 9% in heavy volume after slumping 7% Thursday, after the company filed to sell 14 million shares. Top performers in the Nasdaq 100 included Apple (AAPL), Tesla (TSLA), Workday (WDAY) and Qualcomm (QCOM).
XThe Nasdaq's advance-decline line has been trending lower for several weeks now, but breadth was OK Friday, with advancing stocks beating decliners by slightly better than 2-to-1.
Among recent IPOs, Snowflake (SNOW) rose 2%; Unity Software (U) jumped nearly 8%; AmWell (AMWL) added 1%, Jfrog (FROG) picked up 2.5% and GoodRx (GDRX) gained 5%.
Helped by big sales growth in recent quarter, all five new issues have the potential to be new stock market leaders, but it's best to wait for IPO bases to form.
Costco (COST) lagged in the Nasdaq 100, down 2%, despite a strong earnings report. Revenue growth accelerated from the prior quarter, up 12% to nearly $53.4 billion. Same-store sales rose 11.4%, better than the 7.8% consensus estimate. Digital sales jumped 91%.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Boeing (BA) led the way, up 4%. Strong performances from Apple and Microsoft (MSFT) helped lift the blue-chip index to a gain of 0.5%.
U.S. Stock Market Today Overview |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Index | Symbol | Price | Gain/Loss | % Change |
| Dow Jones | (0DJIA) | 26971.22 | +155.78 | +0.58 |
| S&P 500 | (0S&P5) | 3273.26 | +26.67 | +0.82 |
| Nasdaq | (0NDQC ) | 10812.21 | +139.94 | +1.31 |
| Russell 2000 | (IWM) | 145.87 | +1.80 | +1.25 |
| IBD 50 | (FFTY) | 36.05 | +0.29 | +0.81 |
Last Update: 1:26 PM ET 9/25/2020 |
||||
The S&P 500 was up 0.8%, helped by bullish gains for cruise line operators like Norwegian (NCLH), Carnival (CCL) and Royal Caribbean (RCL). Leaderboard stock ServiceNow (NOW) also outperformed in the S&P 500. It's been a pillar of strength amid sharp pullbacks for the major stock indexes.
Volume on the NYSE and Nasdaq was lower compared to the same time Thursday.
The stock market went into a correction on Wednesday, according to the Big Picture. The Nasdaq's rally attempt is still intact because the index is holding above its Sept. 21 intraday high. But the index is still below its 50-day moving average, a potential resistance level to watch. The Nasdaq rallied back close to its 50-day line Tuesday, but fell sharply on Wednesday.
Read The Big Picture column every day to stay in sync with the market direction and leading stocks and sectors.
Nasdaq Winners
In other stock market news, a 3% rise for SciPlay (SCPL) helped lift the Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) to a gain of 0.7%. New issue SciPlay, best known for its free-to-play mobile casino games, was featured recently in IBD 50 Stocks To Watch.
Inside the MarketSmith Growth 250, electric vehicle play Workhorse Group (WKHS) bounced back after four straight declines. It's back above a 23 buy point after flashing a sell signal when it erased a double-digit gain from a 23 point. Workhouse's specialty is electric delivery vehicles.
Join IBD experts as they analyze leading stocks in the stock market rally on IBD Live.
Twist Bioscience (TWST) was another big gainer in the MarketSmith Growth 250, up almost 8%. The biotech isn't profitable yet but shows nice revenue growth in recent quarters, and it's bouncing nicely off the 10-week moving average.
Follow Ken Shreve on Twitter @IBD_KShreve for more stock market analysis and insight.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:
Earnings Watch; Tech Bellwether Holds Gains After Bullish Analyst Call
Catch The Next Big Winning Stock With MarketSmith
Want To Get Quick Profits And Avoid Big Losses? Try SwingTrader
Best Growth Stocks To Buy And Watch
IBD Digital: Unlock IBD's Premium Stock Lists, Tools And Analysis Today
