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Investors Business Daily
Business
VIDYA RAMAKRISHNAN

Dow Jones Rises: A Perfect Setup For Santa Claus Rally? Tesla's Musk Restricts Twitter Polling; Micron, FedEx, Nike On Tap

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added to early gains, up nearly 0.4% at noon on Tuesday. The blue chip index has been testing its 50-day moving average.

The S&P 500 rose 0.1% in the first hour and added a  few points into the lunch hour. The Nasdaq rose at the same pace.

Volume on the NYSE and the Nasdaq was sharply lower, compared to the same time on Monday.

The small-cap Russell 2000 reversed after falling 0.2% and traded higher by 0.7%.

The Bank of Japan raised its 10-year bond yield cap to 0.5% overnight, up from 0.25%. The Nikkei fell over 2% while the yen strengthened compared to the U.S. dollar. The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note surged 11 basis points to 3.69%.

The string of down days and thinning holiday volume, ahead of the Personal Income and Outlays numbers on Friday, may present a perfect setup for a Santa Claus rally. However, investors should be cautious as the market continues to struggle with fears of recession and mounting interest rates. And any upside reversal will likely be short-lived.

The embattled Twitter takeover took a new turn late Monday after the poll verdict agreed that Tesla's CEO should quit as Twitter chief. Elon Musk responded by restricting voting power to Twitter Blue members. Earlier, 10 million+ Twitter users, or over 57%, said that Musk should leave.

Daiwa analysts lowered Tesla's price target to 177 due to the "Twitter distraction." Evercore ISI followed suit, lowering the firm's target by a staggering 100, to 200. On Monday, Oppenheimer analyst Colin Rusch downgraded the stock to perform from outperform, due to "severely damaged" sentiment toward Tesla.

Tesla shares are down over 5% at noon. The stock has lost more than 40% since the Twitter takeover in October.

Futures Rise As Dow Giant Jumps; Market Halts Slide, Tesla Dives Again

Dow Jones Stocks

Shares of Apple fell after JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee lowered the price target for the Dow Jones leader to 190 from 200 while maintaining an overweight rating. Shares shed nearly 1% midday.

UnitedHealth slumped below its 50-day line last week and is in correction. Merck and Pfizer are holding above the 50-day moving average.

Energy stocks in the Dow Jones index are reversing to the upside this week.

Exxon and Chevron both gained over 1% as the day advanced. Crude oil fell 0.5% to trade at $75.06 per barrel.

Stocks Moving Today

Steel Dynamics gained over 2% ahead of its entry into the S&P 500. Tenaris rallied over 1% in early trading. This steel stock is an IBD Leaderboard candidate.

Super Micro Computer will join the S&P 400 index. Shares are surging over 7% today.

Shares of General Mills fell over 4% despite strong earnings and sales.

Elsewhere, the iShares Silver Trust ETF rose nearly 4% in today's trading.

FedEx and Nike earnings are on tap after the closing bell. Micron and Carnival are due Wednesday.

FDX fell to its 50-day line Tuesday afternoon while Nike fell less than 1%. MU fell over 1% at noon and CCL slipped fractionally.

Please follow VRamakrishnan @IBD_VRamakrishnan for more news on the stock market today.

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