Stocks traded sideways in the final hour Monday with the major indexes starting and closing the afternoon mixed. Original meme stock GameStop fueled excitement throughout the session as shares exploded in heavy trading on the stock market today.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended its eight-day win streak, as it shed 0.2% in Monday action. The S&P 500 closed flat, while the Nasdaq added 0.3%. The small-cap Russell 2000 weakened from larger gains and closed 0.1% higher.
Volume rose on the Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange vs. the same time in Friday's session, in preliminary numbers.
Among exchange traded funds, Invesco QQQ Trust inched 0.2% higher. The Innovator IBD 50 ETF eased 0.4% on the stock market today.
Meanwhile, the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield dipped to 4.49%. And West Texas intermediate crude oil climbed past $79.15 a barrel.
Investors are expected to closely follow Tuesday's April Producer Price Index. On Wednesday eyes will be on April's Consumer Price Index data and April retail sales. Headline CPI is expected to rise 3.4% year over year while the core CPI reading, which strips out food and energy, is expected to increase 3.6%.
Stock Market Today: GameStop Soars, Novavax Surges Again
Meme stock GameStop trimmed gains after shares more than doubled, but still finished the day up a whopping 74.4% amid massive volume. The stock move centered around buzz that Keith Gill, the investor known as Roaring Kitty on X, posted his first tweet on the social media platform in nearly three years.
Gill started the stock's frenzied moves in 2020 and 2021 with shares experiencing a short squeeze, sending the stock rocketing. GameStop on Friday tried to top a cup base with an 18.59 buy point. Today's surge left the stock extended from its buy zone.
GameStop stock has a mediocre 59 IBD Composite Rating, mainly because shares have been in a downtrend since 2021. Analysts polled by FactSet expect losses over the next four quarters after two recent profitable quarters. The company is due to report its fiscal first-quarter earnings in early June. It's on track for its largest increase since Feb. 24, 2021, when it rose 103.9%, according to Dow Jones.
Another meme name, AMC Entertainment, picked up afternoon steam and rocketed 78.4% in sympathy with GameStop on the stock market today.
Elsewhere, Novavax catapulted 47.6% in heavy volume, after nearly doubling on Friday. Shares rallied after Friday's news the vaccine maker will co-develop a combined Covid/flu vaccine with rival vaccine maker Sanofi. Shares of Sanofi gained 1.6% and reclaimed their 200-day line in the stock market today.
The biotech company also reported its first-quarter earnings results on Friday. Novavax reported a loss of $1.05 per share vs. a loss of $3.41 a share in the prior year's quarter. Revenue increased 16% to $93.86 million, but came up short of forecasts for $101.6 million.
Google Eases From Earnings Gap-Up
IBD 50 and Magnificent Seven stock Alphabet was down for most of the day, but reversed course and ended with a 0.3% gain ahead of the company's Google I/O for software developers event on May 14. The Google parent tested its 21-day exponential moving average for a while, but bounced off it as the session wore on.
Shares are extended from a 5% buy zone of a stage two irregular base reaching to 161.47. The stock has pulled back since gapping up more than 10% following Alphabet's strong first-quarter earnings report on April 25.
Walgreens Boots Alliance spiked 5.4% on news it is looking to sell its U.K.-based Boots pharmacy stores. The drug retailer is on pace for its largest increase since March 26, 2020, when it rose 10.21%, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The stock remains well below its 200-day and 50-day moving averages. Shares have lost around 31% year to date.
Western Midstream Partners broke out of a flat base after topping the 36.79 buy point with a 2.5% rise. Shares of the oil-and-gas limited partnership are in the 5% buy zone up to 38.63. Its relative strength line reached a 52-week high as shown by the blue dots on the MarketSurge charts. The stock has been climbing since its mixed first-quarter earnings report on May 8.
Apple Stock Gets A Boost On AI News
Another Magnificent Seven stock, Apple, popped 1.8% on news it is looking to partner with OpenAI to incorporate OpenAI's ChatGPT technology into its next iPhone operating system, iOS 18.
Apple stock is in a cuplike base with a 199.62 buy point, according to MarketSurge pattern recognition. The stock climbed 2% and reclaimed its 200-day moving average after the consumer products giant topped its fiscal second-quarter earnings and sales estimates on May 2.
Arm Holdings bolted 7.7% higher on news the chip company will launch new artificial intelligence chip designs in 2025. Shares are climbing toward their 50-day moving average on the stock market today.
Further, Squarespace soared 13.3% in heavy trading and is extended from a long, undefined base with a 34.38 buy point. Shares also jumped past a bullish three-weeks-tight pattern with a 37.89 entry. The move came on news that the website-building platform will go private in a $6.9 billion all-cash transaction with U.K.-based private equity firm Permira.
Stock Market Today: Intel Leads Dow
Dow stock Intel rose 2.2% on news it is in exclusive talks with Apollo Global Management on a deal to provide Intel with more than $11 billion to build a large chip factory in Ireland. Intel stock is trading far below its 50-day line and has lost around 40% year to date. Intel was the biggest gainer among Dow Jones components on the stock market today.
Shares of Apollo fell 1.6% as they test the 50-day line.
Tencent Music Entertainment popped nearly 11% in heavy volume to a near-three-year high, after the China-based company reported higher-than-expected revenue and adjusted earnings for the first quarter. Revenue declined 8% from the prior year's same quarter while earnings increased 16%.
Finally, IBD 50 stock Nvidia closed the day 0.6% higher. HSBC analyst Frank Lee says he still sees huge earnings potential for the AI-chip leader. He raised his price target on Nvidia stock to 1,350 from 1,050 and maintained a buy rating. Separately, a Jefferies analyst resumed coverage on the stock with a 1,200 price target and a buy rating.
Follow Kimberley Koenig for more stock market news on X/Twitter @IBD_KKoenig.
