The stock market meandered to a mixed finish Friday after early gains faded on news that special prosecutor Robert Mueller indicted 13 Russian nationals for allegedly interfering with the the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
X The Nasdaq's five-session win streak came to an end as the index fell 0.2%. The Dow Jones industrial average added 0.1% and the S&P 500 rose less than 0.1%. Preliminary data showed volume on the NYSE coming in higher than Thursday. Nasdaq volume was slightly lower.
For the week, the Nasdaq led the way, rising 5.3%, while the Dow and S&P 500 added 4.3% each.
Inside the Dow, Walmart (WMT) added 1.5% to 104.78. It's showing a nice rebound back above the 50-day and 10-week moving averages and a 100.23 buy point ahead of its earnings report Tuesday before the open. The retailer is still mulling a big investment in India e-commerce giant FlipKart.
The U.S. Dollar index snapped a four session slide while Treasuries rallied, sending the 10-year yield lower by 4 basis points to 2.87%.
Metal producers surged after the Commerce Department recommended that President Trump impose tariffs on imports.
Among steel producers, U.S. Steel (X) was a big winner in the group, up 15% to 44.75. It's extended from a 41.82 buy point.
Inside the MarketSmith Growth 250, Century Aluminum (CENX) was a top performer, rising 8% to 24.12. Shares rose nearly 14% for the week after a nice bounce off the 10-week moving average.
Homebuilders outperformed after housing starts in January came in much better than expected at an annualized rate of 1.326 million units, nicely above the consensus estimate of 1.232 million. IBD's homebuilder group rose more than 3% on the day and scored a weekly gain of more than 13% after tumbling for three straight weeks.
In the stock market today, Deere & Company (DE) ended off its session high but still added 1.6% after reporting another quarter of strong earnings and sales growth. It's too late to buy the stock, however, after a breakout from a base in September and more recent bounce off the 50-day moving average.
Meanwhile, a couple of standout performers in the stock market ran into trouble on earnings. Arista Networks (ANET) plunged 19% to 249.49, flashing a sell signal from its most recent buy point of 245.75. Adjusted profit of $1.71 easily topped expectations and rose 64% from the year-ago quarter. Sales rose 43% but $467.9 million, but Wall Street got spooked by comments from the company that cloud revenue growth slowed, partly as a result of its prolonged patent litigation with Cisco Systems (CSCO).
Meanwhile, LogMeIn (LOGM) gave back 8.5% to 122.45 despite reporting its fourth straight quarter of triple-digit sales growth. Strong sales in recent quarters is a result of the company's acquisition of Citrix Systems' (CTXS) GoTo business, first announced in 2016. The deal closed last year.
Inside the IBD 50, Wingstop (WING) outperformed, rising 1% to 46.93, ahead of next week's earnings report. Results are due Thursday after the close. The restaurant chain gapped out of a flat base in early November after reporting earnings. After the breakout, it pulled back and found support at the 10-week moving average, and then went on to form a bullish three-weeks-tight pattern. It cleared the add-on pattern this week.
A reminder the stock market will be closed Monday in observance of President's Day.
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