The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 100 points Thursday, as jobless claims hit a new pandemic low for a second straight week. Apple stock looked to rebound from Wednesday's losses. Tesla stock rallied in today's stock market. And retail leader Lululemon soared 13% on strong earnings results.
Among the Dow Jones leaders, Apple traded up 0.1%, while Microsoft moved up 0.5% Thursday. American Express is tracing a new base, but is below a key technical level.
Tesla looked to extend a win streak to four sessions, gaining 0.65% Thursday morning. The EV leader is in buy range past a new entry. PayPal traded 0.7% higher Thursday, as it approaches a new buy point.
Among the top stocks to buy and watch, Palantir Technologies, Semrush and Shopify are in or near new buy zones.
Microsoft and Tesla are IBD Leaderboard stocks. Semrush is an IBD IPO Leader.
Dow Jones Today: Jobless Claims
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% Thursday. The S&P 500 gained 0.2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq traded up 0.4% in morning trade.
Early Thursday, the Labor Department said jobless claims fell to a new pandemic low of 310,000, beating Econoday estimates for initial filings of 344,000.
Among exchange traded funds, the Innovator IBD 50 gained 1.1% Thursday. Nasdaq 100 tracker Invesco QQQ Trust ETF moved up 0.2%. Meanwhile, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF was up 0.3%.
Stock Market Rally Continues
The Nasdaq inched closer to Tuesday's new highs, while the S&P 500 looked to snap a three-day losing streak Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is again testing its key 50-day moving average line.
Wednesday's The Big Picture column commented, "Wednesday's session was a perfect opportunity to assess current holdings. If gains are fading in some of your big winners, trimming positions probably makes sense, especially with stocks that have breached support at their 21-day exponential moving average."
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Dow Jones Stocks To Buy And Watch: American Express
Dow Jones leader American Express is tracing a flat base with a 179.77 buy point, according to IBD MarketSmith chart analysis. But shares are below their key 50-day moving average line. Retaking support at that critical level would be bullish for the stock's immediate prospects. Shares were up 1.1% Thursday.
Through the end of August, American Express was the No. 2 performer on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, advancing more than 37%. Goldman Sachs was the top advancer with a year-to-date gain of 56.9% through Aug. 31.
Stock Market Earnings: Lululemon
Top retailer Lululemon handily beat second-quarter earnings and revenue expectations late Wednesday. Lululemon adjusted earnings per share more than doubled from the year-ago period to $1.65 on a 61% jump in sale to $1.45 billion, both beating estimates.
LULU stock surged 13% in morning trade to hit a new high.
Stocks To Buy And Watch: Palantir, Semrush, Shopify
Palantir Technologies is just below its cup-with-handle's 26.04 buy point, according to IBD MarketSmith chart analysis, amid Thursday morning's 1% gain. The 5% buy area tops out at 27.34. The stock's relative strength line remains far from its old highs. Ideally, the RS line should hit a new high on the breakout day.
IPO Leader Semrush is trading just past the 26.41 buy point in a cup base following last week's breakout move. The SEO leader rallied nearly 2% Thursday to regain the entry. The 5% buy zone tops out at 27.73.
Semrush was featured in last week's IPO Leaders column.
Shopify continues to trace a flat base that shows a 1,650.10 buy point. According to IBD Stock Checkup, SHOP stock boasts a 98 out of a perfect 99 IBD Composite Rating. The IBD Composite Rating identifies stocks with a blend of strong fundamental and technical characteristics.
SHOP stock rallied over 2% early Thursday and is trying to regain its 50-day line.
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PayPal Stock
PayPal stock rallied 0.7% Thursday, looking to rebound after Wednesday's 2.7% sell-off. The top stock is right at its 50-day moving average line.
Shares of the payment processor are tracing a flat base with a 310.26 buy point. The stock is about 6% away from the new entry.
Tesla Stock
IBD Leaderboard stock Tesla stock rallied nearly 1% Thursday, looking to extend a win streak to four sessions.
Tesla stock is in buy range above another alternate entry at 730. In recent weeks, shares regained their 700.10 aggressive buy point deep inside a correction. Meanwhile, a deep, large base continues to take shape.
On Jan. 25, Tesla stock hit a record high 900.40, after climbing as much as 93% from a 466 buy point in a cup-with-handle.
Dow Jones Leaders: Apple, Microsoft
Among the top Dow Jones stocks, Apple moved up 0.1% Thursday, inching loser to Tuesday's record high at 157.26. Apple shares are nearly out of buy range above a 148 trendline buy point.
Software giant Microsoft gained 0.5% Thursday. Shares are about 15% above a cup base's 263.29 buy point and near new highs.
Be sure to follow Scott Lehtonen on Twitter at @IBD_SLehtonen for more on growth stocks and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
