The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher despite a Disney TV bombshell from CEO Bob Iger. A Cathie Wood stock was in a buy zone after the famed investor bought shares. Red-hot AI stock Nvidia cleared a buy point.
A number of stocks passed buy points amid the ebullient action. Leaderboard stocks ASML and On Holding tested entries while Magellan Midstream Partners is a buy zone.
Stocks were boosted following more positive inflation news. The Producer Price Index came in below views. This applied to both overall and the core producer prices.
Meanwhile, initial unemployment claims unexpectedly dropped to 237,000 vs. 248,000 the previous week. Economists expected claims to edge higher to 249,000. The jobs market continues to show impressive strength.
Treasury yields fell again. The 10-year yield tumbled 10 basis points to 3.76% while the two-year yield dropped 12 basis points to 4.62%. Nevertheless, the yield curve remains inverted.
Nasdaq Rallies As IBD 50, Small Caps Jump
The Nasdaq popped again, the tech-heavy index roaring 1.6% higher. IBD Sector Leaders stock Zscaler was a top performer here, rising 5.4%.
The benchmark S&P 500 finished the session up 0.9%. Epam Systems was a noteworthy performer in the S&P as it jumped 4.8%.
Both indexes closed at their highest levels in 2023 so far. Volume was lower on both the NYSE and the Nasdaq, according to early data.
The S&P 500 sectors finished mostly positive. Communication services and technology were the top gainers. Health and energy were the only laggards in the stock market today.
Small caps partook in the gains, with the Russell 2000 popping 1%. Growth stocks impressed even more, with the Innovator IBD 50 ETF closing up 1.6%.
Dow Jones Today: Microsoft Stock Pops, Disney TV News
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged the other major indexes as closed with a meager gain of 0.1%.
Disney stock ended the day up 0.4% after Iger spoke about the challenges ahead for the troubled media giant. Disney is up less than 2% in 2023, badly lagging the S&P 500.
He told CNBC "the company is facing a lot of challenges, some of them self-inflicted" and said its TV business "may not be core to Disney."
Disney's portfolio of TV networks, which includes ABC and ESPN, had long been a key profitability engine for the company. But consumers are increasingly turning to streaming services.
There was more bad news for Disney Thursday after it emerged the Screen Actors Guild — American Federation of Television and Radio Artists had voted to go on strike. This means film and television productions will grind to a halt from midnight. They will join more than 11,000 Writers Guild of America members already on strike.
This is the first time since 1960 when two major Hollywood unions have been on strike at the same time.
Microsoft, which is benefiting from the boom in AI stocks, was the best performer on the Dow as it gained about 1.6%. The stock is trading above its main moving averages, MarketSmith analysis shows.
Cisco Systems also made a strong gain on the Dow Jones today, rising 1.6%. Walgreens Boots Alliance lagged with a 1.9% decline.
Stocks Run With Big Earnings, Nasdaq Rebalance Due
Cathie Wood Buys Teradyne As It Hits Buy Zone
Investors are always keen to follow the moves of top portfolio managers.
ARK Invest chief Wood added to her holdings of Teradyne yesterday.
She bought more than 12,000 shares for her ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF and over 3,000 shares for her ARK Space Exploration & Innovation ETF.
The move looks inspired at the moment, as TER has just moved into a buy zone above a 112.06 buy point after finding support at the 21-day exponential moving average.
TER stock is up nearly 33% so far this year. ARKQ's performance is even better, rising almost 55% in that time frame, while ARKX is up almost 26%.
Cathie Wood also sold more Tesla, this time unloading more than 20,000 shares across her various funds.
Nvidia Stock Clears Entry Amid AI Boom
Chip leader Nvidia has been on a remarkable run in 2023, rising almost 220% so far.
Investors have another opportunity to clamber aboard the stock market freight train as it powers past a four-weeks-tight entry of 439.90.
These are usually used as an opportunity to buy additional shares to an existing position. Aggressive investors may also use it as a buy point in a new position.
Nvidia stock has been soaring amid a massive hunger for artificial intelligence stocks. NVDA chips are key at the moment for AI applications.
Analysts see earnings vaulting 112% in the current fiscal year ending in January 2024 to $7.09 a share and blasting 41% higher the next fiscal year.
Outside Dow Jones: Leaderboard Stocks Test Buy Points
With the market rally continuing to show strength, now is the time to be looking for stocks staging breakouts.
ASML is in a buy zone after earlier clearing a flat base buy point of 747.13. This is a first-stage base, a plus, although volume was middling.
All-around performance is top-notch here, which is reflected in its perfect IBD Composite Rating of 99.
Shoe stock On Holding raced past a cup-with-handle base with a 33.67 buy point but ended the session just below the entry. The sneaker play, which is backed by tennis legend Roger Federer, is up more than 100% so far this year.
Both ASML and ONON are part of the prestigious Leaderboard list of top stocks.
Magellan Midstream Partners is a buy zone. It cleared a flat base entry of 64.42 but the fact the move came in low volume is a negative.
The petroleum transportation play has been seeing its relative strength line move higher of late. The company has agreed to be acquired by Oneok.
Please follow Michael Larkin on Twitter at @IBD_MLarkin for more analysis of growth stocks.
