The confirmed stock market uptrend that started nearly two months ago remained intact Thursday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average and other major indexes managed to rise in afternoon trades on Thursday with the help of a favorable inflation report. Meanwhile, a couple of recent initial public offerings made moves as a brand new IPO soared in its debut on the stock market today.
The Dow Jones industrials started out in the hole but recovered for a gain of 101 points, or 0.2%. The Dow finished above its now-rising 200-day moving average for a fifth straight session. That's a bullish new development since IBD noted a follow-through day on April 22, signifying that a potential tradable market rally has started. Since that day, the Dow has gained a healthy 9.5%.
The S&P 500 also floated a bit higher, climbing 0.4% after opening with a 0.3% deficit. Overall, fluctuations by large-cap indexes have been mild. The Nasdaq composite turned higher as well, picking up 0.2% after edging down at the open. At one point, the Nasdaq gained 0.4%. It recently returned to positive ground for 2025 following a bear-market decline during March and April. It reached an all-time peak of 20,204 in December.
Other key indexes remained mixed, with the Nasdaq 100 up 0.2% but the small-cap Russell 2000 down 0.5%.
Utilities outperformed as their role increases in powering artificial intelligence data centers. The Dow Jones Utility Average finished the day 1.4%. It staged its third-straight gain, and boosted its year-to-date rally to 6.2%
In 2024, utility stocks lagged sharp double-digit gains by the S&P 500, Nasdaq composite and other large-cap-oriented benchmarks. Meanwhile, gold futures enjoyed robust gains, as the near-term expiring contract jumped 2% to $3,408 an ounce. On Leaderboard, Agnico Eagle Mines led the upside with a 2.7% gain.
3:06 p.m. ET
EToro, Atour Lifestyle Make Moves
Among recent initial public offerings, online and app-based broker eToro licked its wounds after its breakout attempt from an IPO base failed in spectacular fashion. The midcap growth stock rallied 1%.
On Monday, the stock bolted 10.6% higher and eclipsed a 74.28 entry. But the very next day saw shares reverse badly, and eToro plunged 12% on Tuesday, then lopped off an additional 6% on Wednesday.
This negative action triggered IBD's golden rule of investing, which is cutting losses on any and every stock purchase at 7%-8% or less. Keeping losses small allows an investor to stay in the stock market game, preserve capital, and get the opportunity to invest in a better stock.
Looking at other recent new IPOs, IBD Sector Leader Atour Lifestyle surged more than 6% and hit a session high of 33.40.
That 33.40 price is a hair above Atour's recent breakout price of 33.32 in a three-month cup pattern. On May 22, Atour jumped sharply and briefly poked above the 33.32 pivot, but quickly backtracked. Nonetheless, the recent pullback resembles a tightly formed handle. Such action indicates institutional investors are not eager to dump shares.
The operator of business and luxury hotels throughout China has delivered earnings growth of 31%, 47%, 45% and 31% vs. year-ago levels in the past four quarters. Revenue increased 64%, 53%, 35% and 29% over the same time frame, and trailing 12-month revenue topped $1.06 billion.
Find Atour and additional big movers, both up and down in price, at IBD Stocks On The Move.
1:41 p.m. ET
This IPO Takes Off On Its Debut
Chime Financial priced its initial public offering of 25.9 million shares at $27 a share, and began trading at 43, a whopping 59% above that IPO price. The nonbank lender and financial services app began trading at 12:49 p.m. in New York and at one point hit a session high of 44.94. It has since cooled off, trading near 39 for a gain of nearly 45%.
According to Chime's 424b IPO prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Chime's mission is "addressing the most critical financial needs of everyday Americans." It has 8.6 million active members, conducted $121 billion worth of payment volume, and saw $251 in average revenue per active member as well as 54 monthly transactions each for the three months ended on March 31.
Elsewhere, Dow component Boeing gapped lower after one of its jets crashed on takeoff. But Big Tech made a bullish statement as Oracle and Microsoft moved bullishly higher, rising 14% and 1.5%, respectively.
12:11 p.m. ET
Beyond Dow Jones: Industry Group Movers
At a granular level, agricultural operations, computer networking, foreign bank, gold and silver mining and wholesale drug supply stocks paced the upside of the stock market today. These industry groups, among the 197 tracked by Investor's Business Daily, rallied 1% or more on a price-weighted basis.
On the downside, airline, clothing manufacturing, jewelry retail, commercial loan and mobile manufacturing and recreational vehicle stocks slid hard. These groups lost 1.1% or more despite a dip in the cost of money. The benchmark U.S. Treasury 10-year bond rallied, sending the yield down two basis points to 4.38%.
The three-month Treasury bill was virtually flat at 4.4% while the two-year note showed a yield of 3.91%, down a smidgen.
Among exchange traded funds, the Invesco QQQ Trust rose 0.2% after losing ground earlier. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF also gained 0.2% after falling at the market open.
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Boeing's Fall Contained; Oracle Leads Tech Charge
Boeing's share-price loss was contained following a strong rally in recent months. The aerospace and defense behemoth fell nearly 5% and hit a low of 201.28, sinking below the 21-day exponential moving average, a key technical level for both short-term traders and position-based investors.
However, Boeing is holding a cushion of profit since the stock broke out of a well-crafted double-bottom base with a 184.40 buy point in early May.
Meanwhile, Oracle led the upside for tech stocks after reporting an acceleration in revenue growth, up 11% vs. a year ago to $15.9 billion, for the May-ended fiscal fourth quarter. The database software pioneer and major player in AI-infused data analytics cleared a 198.31 standard pivot in a six-month-long base.
Oracle has made an extraordinary rally in the early going, gapping up at the open, rising more than 14% during morning trading. The member of IBD's database software industry group is now moving past the 198.31 standard buy point in its six-month base.
Looking more closely at the chart, the stock also surpassed an early entry at 191.99, based on the mid-January near-term high. Before its earnings report, Oracle also rushed past a trendline near 173-175 drawn from the December peak, spurring another aggressive buy point. The 5% buy zone from the latest entry of 198.31 goes up to 208.23.
Oracle shares have lifted nearly 21% year to date, sharply outpacing light gains of 1.6% by the Nasdaq composite and a more respectable 5.6% advance by the New York Stock Exchange's composite index.
10:45 a.m. ET
Inside Dow Jones: Microsoft's Buy Point
Dow industrials stock Microsoft bucked the index's mild decline by rising as much as 1% at its intraday high of 478.08 on the stock market today. Volume was running 22% lighter than usual. But since late April, Microsoft had already posted at least four days of gains in vigorous volume.
Reaching as high as 476.06, Microsoft, the cloud computing, business software and gaming console titan, is showing the most bullish action in months. Not only is Microsoft clearing an 11-month base with a 468.35 entry point, but the megacap tech is also set to mark its sixth weekly gain in seven weeks.
That kind of price action bespeaks serious institutional accumulation. The 5% buy zone from the entry goes up to 491.77; thus, Microsoft is in buy range, based on IBD buy rules.
Microsoft holds a strong 95 IBD Composite Rating.
9:37 a.m. ET
These Stocks Take A Dive
Early movers Thursday morning include GameStop and Oklo.
GameStop stock crumbled 20% after the company announced a $1.75 billion private offering of convertible senior notes, while Oklo tumbled nearly 4% on a $400 million stock offering.
8:48 a.m. ET
Inflation Cools, Unemployment Doesn't
Early Thursday, the producer price index rose 0.1% on the month, below estimates for a 0.2% rise, with an annual increase of 2.6%, in line with views.
Core PPI increased 0.1% in May, with a year-over-year gain of 3.0%. Economists predicted a rise 0.3% for the month with an annual hike of 3.1%.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said weekly jobless claims held steady at 248,000, unchanged from the previous week. They were expected to fall to 243,000.
8:14 a.m. ET
Jet Crash Hits Dow Jones Stock Boeing
In stocks, Boeing stock plunged more than 6% in premarket trading after an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner, destined for London, crashed on departure from Ahmedabad, India, into the campus of a medical college.
The New York Times said at least five students at the college were killed. A total of 242 people were aboard the jet but there was no specific information on casualties, though the Times quoted India's health minister saying "many people" had died.
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Also, Oracle was a big earnings mover Thursday, as the software giant jumped more than 8%. The company reported fiscal fourth-quarter results that topped expectations.
Company executives also said they expect their fiscal 2026 revenue to be "dramatically" higher, as Oracle sees benefits from its artificial intelligence and cloud services push.
Stock Market Today: Trump Tariff News, Inflation Data, Jobless Claims
President Donald Trump told reporters Wednesday night that he'll send letters to trading partners within the next two weeks setting unilateral duties ahead of a July 9 deadline, when the 90-day pause on "reciprocal" tariffs ends.
Due out at 8:30 a.m. ET, the Labor Department's producer price index, or PPI, is expected to rise 0.2% for the month of May, with an annual increase of 2.6%, according to estimates from Econoday. The core CPI, which excludes food and energy, is anticipated to rise 0.3% on the month. The year-over-year increase is seen at 3.1%.
Further, economists expect weekly initial unemployment claims to fall to 243,000 vs. 247,000 in the previous week, according to Econoday. Claims have climbed lately, raising concerns about the job market.
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Dow Jones Leader Disney Breaks Out
Elsewhere, Dow Jones media giant Disney broke out past a 113.44 buy point in a cup with handle in recent sessions, MarketSurge chart analysis shows. Shares are in a 5% buy range that goes up to 119.11, as they lost 0.6% in premarket trading Thursday.
Tuesday's IBD Stock Of the Day was Dow Jones leader Amazon, which gave up a 214.84 cup-with-handle entry Wednesday. Amazon stock dropped another 0.8% in premarket trades Thursday.
Finally, Shopify is in buy range above a 112.38 entry in a cup with handle following Wednesday's breakout move. Shopify stock moved down 1.3% in early action Thursday.
The ongoing stock market uptrend provides a bullish setting for raising exposure, but investors still need to watch for volatility. Investors should buy stocks with a 21-day average true range, or ATR, of up to 8%. But they should be wary of being too concentrated in high-octane names.
Key Stock Lists To Find Big Winners
Check out IBD MarketSurge's "Breaking Out Today" list for top growth stocks that are moving above correct buy points. Investors also can find potential breakouts on the "Near Pivot" list. To find additional stock ideas, check IBD Stock Lists like IBD 50, Big Cap 20 and Stocks Near A Buy Zone.
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Be sure to follow Scott Lehtonen on X at @IBD_SLehtonen for more on growth stocks, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the stock market today.
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