Futures Fall as Microsoft, Meta, Three Cryptos Slide Place

Dow Jones futures edged lower overnight, while S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures fell slightly. Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta platform ( META ) beat Q3 views, but shares declined on guidance.

Robinhood Markets (hood), Coinbase (coins), Microstrategy (MSTR), Doordash (DASH), GoDaddy (GDDY) and Ryan Specialty Holdings (RYAN) were among other notable earners after the close.

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Nasdaq hits new high again; Reddit, Alphabet, Eateries in Focus

Stock market rally eased modestly Wednesday, even as Google-parent Nasdaq reverses from record high the alphabet (GOOGL) leads the big earnings movers

Nvidia, Meta and DoorDash stocks are on the IBD leaderboard. Nvidia stock is on swingtrader. Microsoft stock IBD is among the long-term leaders. Nvidia, Meta and Ryan stocks are in the IBD 50. Meta Stocks and Robinhood are in the IBD Big Cap 20.

Dow Jones futures today

Dow Jones futures were below fair value, with Microsoft a Dow component. S&P 500 futures were down 0.3% and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.4%. Microsoft and Meta are major S&P 500 and Nasdaq holdings.

The 10-year Treasury yield rose slightly to 4.29%.

Note that overnight action in Dow futures and elsewhere does not necessarily translate into actual trading in the next regular stock market session.

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Stock market rally

The stock market rally fizzles out, with the Nasdaq leading the decline after hitting a new all-time intraday high.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2% in Wednesday's stock market trading, again hitting resistance at the 21-day line. The S&P 500 index sank 0.3%. The Nasdaq Composite gave up 0.6%. The small-cap Russell 2000 fell 0.1%, still above its 21-day line.

Reddit (RDDT) 42% skyscraper, while Garmin (GRMN) rose 23%, among many of the leading stocks that saw earnings growth But there were plenty of losers, too Eli Lilly (LLY) plunged 13%. Rivals of Nvidia Advanced micro devices ( AMD ) dived nearly 11%.

U.S. crude oil prices rose 2.1% to $68.61 a barrel.

The 10-year Treasury yield fell one basis point to 4.26%.

ETF

The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF ( IGV ) fell 0.2%, with Microsoft stock a major IGV holding. Vanek Vector Semiconductor ETF ( SMH ) fell 2.4%, with AMD leading the retreat. ARK Innovation ETF ( ARKK ) fell 0.4%.

The SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF (XME) slid 1.7%. The SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB), the Healthcare Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) and the Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI) lost 0.2%.

Financial Select SPDR ETF (XLF) advanced 0.45%

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Microsoft, Meta Income

Microsoft's earnings and revenue beat fiscal Q1 views, as its Azure cloud-computing revenue grew 33%, beating expectations.

Dow indicated slightly below outlook for tech titan fiscal Q2. Microsoft said it plans $80 billion in capital spending in the current fiscal year 2025, which began in July. That's up from $49 billion in fiscal 2024. That could weigh on Microsoft's earnings, but it's good news for AI hardware plays.

Microsoft stock fell sharply in extended trade. Shares rose 0.1% to 433.53 in Wednesday's regular session, beat by Google's cloud-led earnings. MSFT stock is moving away from its 21-day, 50-day and 200-day lines. The traditional consolidation buy point is 468.35, with 441.85 suggesting an early entry.

But Microsoft has been lagging for most of 2024.

Earnings easily beat Meta Earnings while slightly on top. Daily active users views came down slightly. Facebook and Instagram parent indicated slightly higher Q4 revenue at midpoint. Meta guided full-year spending slightly lower but a fraction of capital spending and forecast “significant capital spending growth in 2025.”

Meta stocks fell modestly in overnight action. Shares fell 0.25% to 591.80 on Wednesday, below a brief consolidation peak.

Microsoft and Meta are important for revenue and guidance Nvidia (NVDA) and other AI hardware plays.

Nvidia stock fell slightly in late trading. Shares fell 1.4% to 139.34 on Thursday, just below a 140.76 buy point following weak AMD sales guidance.

Arista Networks (ANET), which boasts Microsoft and Meta as major customers, lost a fraction overnight. Shares fell 1.4% on Wednesday along a 21-day streak.

Robinhood, Crypto Income

Crypto-related trading app Robinhood, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and bitcoin investor MicroStrategy all reported weaker-than-expected Q3 results. MicroStrategy, which borrowed heavily to buy bitcoin, announced plans to raise $42 billion in equity and debt to buy more cryptocurrencies.

Robinhood stock plunged while Coinbase declined strongly and MicroStrategy fell. COIN stock has been flirting with a buy point.

other income

Ryan Specialty stocks and GoDaddy were little changed. Doordash is on the higher end.

Lemonade (LMND) rose to better-than-expected results, while another upstart insurer, route (ROOT), skyrocketed. Communication software manufacturer Twilio (TWLO) and Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM) also jumped overnight.

Early Thursday, Sharkninja (SN), Uber Technologies (UBER) and Roblox (RBLX) taps to report earnings.

what to do now

The stock market rally has handled the earnings season well so far, but there's more to come. We'll see how markets respond to Microsoft and Meta on Thursday Amazon.com (AMZN) and apple (AAPL) on Thursday night. Friday's jobs report follows, along with election day on November 5, the Fed meeting announcement on November 7 and more.

Aside from the earnings gap, there aren't many recent buying opportunities, and several of those companies have earned earnings over the next few days.

So apart from incremental purchases or portfolio tweaks, investors don't need to do much. But stay busy and keep your watchlist ready.

Read The Big Picture daily to stay in tune with market direction and leading stocks and sectors.

Please follow Ed Carson at @edcarson1971 and on X/Twitter @IBD_ECarson For stock market updates and more.

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