Stocks opened modestly lower Friday, as the saber-rattling continued between North Korea and the U.S.
X This time, the words came from Kim Jong-un, who said he will "surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged U.S. dotard (Trump) with fire." Meanwhile, North Korea's foreign minister said the country might test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean.
The Dow Jones industrial average was flat while the S&P 500 fell 0.1% and the Nasdaq composite 0.2%.
In terms of overall market health, distribution days have been quickly falling off the counts for the Nasdaq composite and S&P 500. While indexes are perched near highs, they haven't been making much headway in recent months.
The FANG+ stocks — Facebook (FB) Amazon.com (AMZN), Netflix (NFLX), and Google-parent Alphabet (GOOGL), along with Apple (AAPL) — are giving mixed signals. Apple's breakout has stumbled while Amazon and Alphabet are stuck below their 50-day moving averages. But Facebook and Netflix are just below potential buy points.
Asian markets retreated, with Japan's Nikkei down 0.25%, South Korea's Kospi 0.7% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.8%.
European bourses were mixed in afternoon trading with London's FTSE-100 and the Paris CAC-40 up around 0.1% to 0.2%. Germany's DAX eased 0.1%. Germans head to the polls Sunday to decide if Chancellor Angela Merkel will get another four years in power.
Sprint (S) and T-Mobile (TMUS) rose in early trading on a Reuters report that said the companies are close to a merger agreement. Shares of Sprint were up 4% to 8.33. T-Mobile added 1% to 63.91.
Carmax (KMX) jumped 2.5% after topping earnings views. The stock has been getting resistance near 70 after a breakout over a 67.35 buy point. Carmax was featured as a possible option trade in the latest Earnings Preview column.
On the downside, Grubhub (GRUB) plunged nearly 5%, hurt by news that Amazon.com (AMZN) is teaming up with Olo, an online food ordering solution for the restaurant industry.
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