Stock Market Today: Dow Jones declines as government faces shutdown deadline

The Dow Jones and other major indexes were mixed at the end of Friday's session, but posted overall strong gains during the week. Nvidia shares rose on the stock market today amid more bullish views from Wall Street, but Tesla weakened due to lower factory production in China. Lawmakers worked to avoid a government shutdown as profits from Nike and Lululemon weighed on retail stocks.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8% on Friday. The blue-chip index rose to a record high on Thursday but pared those gains by closing time. According to Investors Intelligence, the seasonal strength that followed mid-March, or March 15, may have already been factored into the market, creating a greater potential for more “chop and chop.”

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 0.1% after also hitting a record high on Thursday. The technology and communications services sectors took the lead while lower Treasury yields did not appear to help real estate, which lagged the S&P 500 sectors.

The Nasdaq rose 0.2%. But the tech-heavy index showed stalled movement on Thursday after early gains evaporated. Small-cap stocks in the Russell 2000 index fell 1.3% on Friday.

House Speaker Mike JohnsonThe government's plans to avoid a midnight government shutdown appear to have been successful. The House of Representatives passed a $1.2 trillion bill, which now heads to the Senate. But the measure sparked rebellion from some Republican lawmakers, who proposed a Movement to oust Johnson.

The decliners beat the advancers

Although trading volume on the NYSE and Nasdaq was lighter in the stock market today compared to the same time on Thursday, bears maintained a similar hold as losers outnumbered gainers nearly 2 to 1 on both exchanges.

Innovator IBD 50 (FFTY) The exchange-traded fund suffered a 0.7% decline while the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 5 basis points to 4.21%.

Among the seven greats, Nvidia (NVDA) rose more than 2% after UBS analysts saw more growth following the artificial intelligence conference that concluded Thursday. Nvidia is a portfolio holding in Investor's Business Daily, IBD Leaderboard.

while, Tesla (TSLA(It extended its decline from the 50-day moving average on the stock market today as it announced production cuts at its Shanghai factory. The news raises concerns about slowing demand for electric vehicles in China and Europe.

Dow Jones stocks: Apple, Disney, Merck

apple (Camel) recovered from Thursday's sharp sell-off and rose 0.5%. The iPhone maker is facing an antitrust lawsuit by the Department of Justice. “analysts”Don't expect any changes to the business model at the moment“.

Disney (Dis) fell while Merck (Mark) rose. Both stocks are in buy zones from appropriate buy points, according to IBD Marketsorg Pattern recognition tools.

Nike (Nicky) offered a consistent outlook for 2024 but expects lower growth in the first half of 2025. Shares fell from their 50-day moving average in heavy volume and were the worst performers on the Dow.

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