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Stock Market News for Jun 12, 2023

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Wall Street ended slightly higher on Friday, led by tech stocks. Even as the recently observed tech boom slowed earlier in the week on apprehension over the sustainability of the artificial-intelligence-led sectoral growth, tech stocks staged a comeback in the session. Investors remained positive that the Fed would announce a rate-hike pause from its June meeting. All three major indexes ended in the green.

How Did the Benchmarks Perform?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 0.1% or 43.17 points to close at 33,876.78. Seventeen components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory, while 13 ended in negative.

The S&P 500 gained 0.1%, or 4.93 points, to close at 4,298.86. Six of the 11 broad sectors of the benchmark index ended in negative territory. The Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB), the Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) and the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) fell 0.8%, 0.6% and 0.6%, respectively, while the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) gained 0.5%.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 20.62 points, or 0.2%, to finish at 13,259.14.

The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was up 1.3% at 13.83. Decliners outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by a 1.49-to-1 ratio. On the Nasdaq, a 1.84-to-1 ratio favored declining issues.

Tesla Leads a Tech Rebound

Tesla, Inc.’s (TSLA - Free Report) shares gained 4.1% on Friday after General Motors Company (GM - Free Report) joined Ford Motor Company (F - Free Report) in agreeing to use its electric vehicle (EV) charging network. This might make Tesla Superchargers the market leader in the United States. EVs are a fast-growing industry, and this comes as a big boost to the automobile giant led by Elon Musk. This would entail that around 60% of the country’s current EV market would have access to Tesla’s chargers. General Motors’ shares rose 1.1%, while Ford gained 1.2%.

Tesla’s gains stretched its winning streak to 11 consecutive sessions and rang a warning bell for third-party independent charging companies, which fell on the day. These companies now need to up the ante by upgrading their networks to be compatible with Tesla's, during a time when funds available to them are scarce. This might turn out to be a classic case of big fish swallowing small fish.

However, the broad-based tech sector witnessed a rebound from its AI troubles this week on this news. What has also helped is a wide consensus that the Fed would not raise interest rates from its June meeting slated to be held on June 13and 14. Mega-cap growth stocks like tech and consumer discretionaries became the biggest gainers in the session.

Consequently, shares of NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA - Free Report) and Netflix, Inc. (NFLX - Free Report) rose 3.2% and 2.6%, respectively. NVIDIA carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Weekly Roundup

All three most widely followed indexes closed the last week slightly in the green. The S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.4%, 0.3% and 0.1%, respectively. For the tech-heavy Nasdaq, this was a seventh consecutive winning week. For the S&P 500, this was a fourth straight winning week.

Throughout the week, the upcoming Fed June FOMC meeting dominated the movement in stock markets, with investors hedging their bets on whether the central bank would continue with its rate hikes. Trade was choppy as various financial researchers raised doubts that the AI-led tech recovery, which has helped the sector boom, might not be based on a solid foundation and is exaggerated. All eyes are set this week on what Fed officials have to announce at the conclusion of the Jun 13-14 meeting.

No economic data was released on Friday.

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