Dow Jones dives 350 points on strong jobs data; Cathie Wood sells Tesla, buys Meta
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 350 points Thursday after a strong monthly jobs report. Meanwhile, Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest ETFs sold more Tesla shares while buying Meta platforms (META) shares.
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A deluge of economic data hit the markets on Thursday. First, ADP’s June national employment report showed an increase in jobs by 497,000 vs. estimates for an increase of 235,000. ADP showed an increase of 278,000 jobs in May. ADP’s report provides a preview of Friday’s June payrolls report from the Department of Labor.
But the Labor Department’s revealed initial jobless claims on Thursday showed an increase to 248,000 against 239,000 last week.
Elsewhere, the S&P Global Services Purchasing Managers’ Index, out at 9:45 a.m. ET, is expected at 54.1, unchanged from the mid-month estimate. Furthermore, the June Institute for Supply Management Services index is forecast to rise to 50.8 vs. May’s figure of 50.3.
Finally, the Ministry of Labour’s JOLTS report is expected to show that vacancies fell to 9.9 million for May compared to April’s 10.1 million.
Stock market today: Cathie Wood buys Meta shares
Electric vehicle giant Tesla ( TSLA ) fell 1.4% Thursday, as Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest ETFer sold nearly $8 million of the Elon Musk-led company’s stock, according to Ark’s daily trading update.
Meanwhile, META shares rose 1% as Wood bought about $1.6 million worth of shares in the social media giant on Wednesday. Late Wednesday, Meta launched a Twitter rival called Threads.
Dow Jones technology giants apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) was lower after today’s market opening.
Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), Dynatrace (DT), MongoDB (MDB), Lamb Research (LRCX) and Nvidia (NVDA) – as well as Dow Jones stocks JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Visa (V) and Salesforce (CRM) – are among the best stocks to watch in the ongoing stock market rally.
Tesla is an IBD Leaderboard stock, Lam Research remains an IBD SwingTrader stock, while Nvidia was featured this week in the Stocks Near a Buy Zone column. Dynatrace was a recent IBD Stock Of The Day.
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Dow Jones today: Oil prices, Treasury yields
After Thursday’s opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.05%, while the S&P 500 fell 1%. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite was down 1.1% in morning action.
Among U.S. exchange-traded funds, Nasdaq 100 tracker Invesco QQQ Trust ( QQQ ) traded down 1%, while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF ( SPY ) lost 0.9% early Thursday.
The 10-year US Treasury yield rose to 4.02%, breaking above recent highs established in late May. The yield was higher on Monday at 3.94%.
Oil prices were modestly lower on Thursday morning, after solid gains on Wednesday. West Texas Intermediate futures traded down about 0.5%, to below $72 a barrel.
Stock market action
The main indices were again quiet on Wednesday. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq composite each fell about 0.2%. The Nasdaq 100, which represents some of the largest stocks in the composite, was almost flat.
Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4 percent.
Wednesday’s Big Picture column commented: “The Russell 2000 fell 1.3% and looks set to hit resistance around the 1900 level. Wednesday’s loss snapped a six-day winning streak for the small-cap benchmark, its longest since January. Strength in the Russell has helped the stock market extend its gains. So another decline in the index could affect the market breadth.”
Now is an important time to read IBD’s The Big Picture column as the stock market remains near this year’s highs.
Five Best Dow Jones Stocks to Buy and Watch Now
Dow Jones stocks to watch: JPMorgan, Salesforce, Visa
Dow Jones bank leader JPMorgan is holding above a 143.37 flat-base buy point despite Wednesday’s drop. The 5% buy zone goes up to 150.54. The JPM share fell 1.3 percent on Thursday morning.
Salesforce managed to stabilize after post-earnings decline. It is now testing support at the 50-day line, and a decisive rally will create another buying opportunity. The megacap tech earlier edged past a pair of alternative entries at 194.01 and at 200.10, according to IBD Leaderboard analysis.
Over the past few weeks, shares reached the 20% profit zone from a 178.94 cup-with-handle entry. CRM shares fell 0.7% on Thursday morning.
Payments leader Visa closed further above a flat base’s 235.57 buy point on Wednesday, with a gain of 0.6%. The buy range tops out at 247.35. The V share fell 0.2% early Thursday.
And American Express (AXP) closed near the 177.04 buy point for a cup-with-handle base.
4 top growth stocks to buy and watch Stock market rally
Best stocks to buy and watch: Chipotle, Dynatrace
IBD Leaderboard Watchlist stock Chipotle is trying to break out past flat base’s 2,139.88 buy point, according to IBD MarketSmith pattern recognition. An early entry at 2,092.51 was also available due to a trend line. Chipotle was a recent IBD Stock Of The Day. CMG shares fell nearly 1% Thursday morning.
Software maker Dynatrace has formed a three-week tight chart pattern, representing a brief consolidation where institutional investors are stopping their buying. Shares are about 3% off their last entry of 52.99. DT shares fell 1.5% on Thursday morning.
IBD SwingTrader stock Lam Research moved above an early buy point at 615.80 and a three-week tight pattern with an entry at 630.72 during last week’s rally. LRCX shares were down 1.4% early Thursday.
MongoDB traded closely following its recent earnings-driven jump, which produced a new entry. Shares are above the three-week tight formation that showed a buy point at 398.89, while aggressive investors could have used a trendline entry around 386. MDB stock was down 2.6% on Thursday morning.
After the earnings-driven gap-up on May 25, Nvidia shares have trended consistently higher. Amid a decline since June 20, the stock offers another opportunity to buy shares. It has formed a trendline entry at 418 after the stock found support at its 21-day exponential moving average. Nvidia is an IBD Leaderboard stock. The share lost 1.3 percent on Thursday.
Learn how to time the market with IBD’s ETF Market Strategy
Best shares to buy and watch in stock market rally
These are the four best stocks to buy and watch in today’s stock market, including a Dow Jones leader.
| company name | Symbol | Right point of purchase | Type of point of purchase |
|---|---|---|---|
| ASML | (ASML) | 683.18 | Cup with handle |
| Salesforce | (CRM) | 200.00 | Consolidation |
| Cloudflare | (NET) | 66.20 | Double bottom |
| Year | (YEAR) | 75.45 | Cup with handle |
Source: IBD data as of July 5, 2023
Join IBD experts as they analyze leading stocks in the current stock market rally on IBD Live
Tesla shares
IBD Leaderboard stock Tesla extended a winning streak to six sessions Monday, rising 0.95%. Amid recent rallies, Tesla shares remain well outside buy territory beyond a double-bottom buy point at 207.79.
TSLA stock threatened to erase Wednesday’s gains, falling 1.4% on Thursday.
Dow Jones Leaders: Apple, Microsoft
Among the Dow Jones stocks, Apple stock continued to fall from Friday’s record high of 194.48, falling 0.6% on Wednesday. Shares continue to hold sharply above a buy point of 157.38. Early Thursday, the shares lost 0.6% in morning action.
Microsoft shares rose Wednesday, holding off about 4% from their June 16 all-time high of 351.47.
In recent weeks, the stock reached the 20% to 25% profit zone from a buy point of 276.76, so investors could have taken at least some profit there. And on Thursday morning, Microsoft shares were down 0.1%.
Be sure to follow Scott Lehtonen on Twitter at @IBD_SLehtonen for more on growth stocks and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
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