* Major averages mixed: Nasdaq up, S&P edges lower, Dow down
* Healthcare leads S&P sector gainers; energy weakest group
* Dollar slips; gold, crude rise; U.S. 10-year yield ~0.70%
NEW YORK, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of U.S. equity markets brought to you by Reuters stocks reporters and anchored today by Terence Gabriel. Reach him on Messenger to share your thoughts on market moves: terence.gabriel.tr.com@reuters.net
AFTER APPLE AND TESLA, WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE ABOUT SHARE SPLITS? (1232 EDT/1632 GMT)
Tim Cook and Elon Musk must be satisfied with the results of their companies' respective share splits on Monday. Cook's Apple AAPL.O jumped nearly 4% after the iPhone maker's 4-for-1 split took effect, while Tesla TSLA.O , led by Musk, surged 9% following its 5-for-1 split.
Each company said earlier this month that the goal of its respective split was to make its stock more accessible to individual investors. Tesla's stock has surged about 75% since its split was announced on Aug. 11. Apple has jumped over 30% since it announced its split on July 30, along with a blowout quarterly report.
Share splits have become rare on Wall Street in recent years. The increasing availability of fractional share purchases on Robinhood and other online brokerages weakens the logic behind share splits. But its hard to argue with Monday's results. CEOs of other S&P 500 companies with high-priced now have to at least ponder the possibility of splitting their own shares.
What companies might be candidates for splits? Several stocks on Wall Street are trading above $1,000. Here is how some of them are performing on Monday:
Company
Price
Change NVR INC NVR.N
$ 4,168.83 -0.9% AMAZON.COM AMZN.O
$ 3,464.65
1.8% CABLE ONE INC CABO.K
$ 1,845.00 -0.6% ALPHABET INC A GOOGL.O
$ 1,630.28 -0.6% CHIPOTLE MX GRL CMG.N
$ 1,321.10
1.5% AUTOZONE INC AZO.N
$ 1,188.17 -0.1% SHOPIFY INC SHOP.N
$ 1,050.49
0.8%
(Noel Randewich)
*****
AFTER A BLISTERING AUGUST, SEPTEMBER MIGHT USHER IN A CHILL (1141 EDT/1541 GMT)
The S&P 500 .SPX is on track to rise more than 7% this month. If so, it will be its biggest August gain since 1984.
That said, the benchmark index is about to enter what is, on average, its worst month of the year.
Indeed, if the SPX closes higher this August it will be its 5th straight monthly rise. That would be its longest monthly winning streak since a 6-month run of gains from April to September 2018.
In any event, using Refinitiv data back to 1928, September has been the worst month, on average, for the S&P 500. The average decline is about 1%:
Also of note, since 1928, and prior to this month, there have been 30 Augusts with a gain of more than 2%. However, in those instances, the S&P 500's average change for the rest of the year was a gain of only about 0.25%.
Therefore, if September lives up to its reputation, the broad-market average may be at risk of not just a coming down month, but also a struggle through the end of the year.
(Terence Gabriel)
*****
NASDAQ COMPOSITE: SPRINGING ANOTHER LEAK (1016 EDT/1416 GMT)
As the Nasdaq's .IXIC more than 70% advance off its March trough sails on, there is cause for concern as internal measures leak. the Nasdaq New High/New Low (NH/NL) index .AD.O , on a weekly basis, is another measure suggesting the Nasdaq is taking on water.
Indeed, in late July, and again in early August, the 10-week moving average (WMA) of the Nasdaq NH/NL ratio hit 88.3%, or its highest level since early 2013.
Since early August, as the Composite has gone on to fresh record highs, the NH/NL index has now eroded to about 86%.
Of note, just looking back from early 2018 to mid-2019, the Composite moved to new highs against a diverging weekly NH/NL index four times. Subsequently, the IXIC suffered sell offs of as much as 8%-24% (average 13%).
The NH/NL index did not have an opportunity to diverge with the early 2020 peak, given the IXIC's sudden break away gap to the downside. That said, with a 79.8% reading the week of the February high, the measure was severely overheated, at its highest level in more than 2 years. Once it broke its 5-WMA, it trended down below it, while the Composite ultimately fell as much as 33%.
At this point, the measure's recent 7-year high, coupled with its developing divergence, suggests risk that the Nasdaq may soon be sending an SOS.
(Terence Gabriel)
*****
STREAKS, SHAKES, AND SPLITS (0830 EDT/1230 GMT)
U.S. equity index futures are little changed.
In any event, the S&P 500 .SPX is on track to rise more than 7% for the month, which would be its best August since 1984.
Indeed, the SPX can attempt to rise for an 8th straight day. The SPX last rose 8 straight days in late-March/early April of 2019.
The benchmark index can also attempt to rise for a 6th straight week. It last rose 6 weeks in a row from mid-October to mid-November 2019.
It is also now trying to gain for a fifth straight month. That would be its longest winning steak on a monthly basis since a 6-month run from April to September 2018.
Meanwhile, today marks the latest shake up in the Dow Industrial Average .DJI . Amgen AMGN.O , Honeywell (NYSE:HON) HON.N and Salesforce.Com CRM.N are in, while Exxon (NYSE:XOM) XOM.N , Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) PFE.N and Raytheon (NYSE:RTN) Technologies RTX.N are out. of note, Apple AAPL.O shares are splitting 4-for-1 and Tesla TSLA.O is splitting 5-for-1. is your premarket snapshot:
(Terence Gabriel)
*****
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Premarket08312020
https://tmsnrt.rs/3bakccC IXICNHNLW08312020
https://tmsnrt.rs/32EgLqN SPXAVgmonth1928
https://tmsnrt.rs/32LfgHk Stock splits an endangered species on Wall St Stock splits an endangered species on Wall St
https://tmsnrt.rs/3feQunl
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Terence Gabriel is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)