Dow Jones Falls on Weak Jobs Report; Alibaba jumps at $1.1 billion in fines

The Dow Jones Industrial Average trimmed losses on Friday after a weaker-than-expected monthly jobs report from the US Labor Department. Meanwhile, Chinese e-commerce giant Ali Baba ( BABA ) jumped as the company faces a $1.1 billion fine on its fintech affiliate, Ant Group.

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Friday’s June employment report showed nonfarm payrolls rose 209,000, below estimates for growth of 213,000 and down from corn’s 339,000 gain. Unemployment ticked down to 3.6%, in line with estimates.

Attention to the report intensified Thursday after the surprise increase in hiring in June reported in the ADP National Employment Report. That data sent bond and stock markets lower on Thursday.

Elsewhere, Alibaba shares rose more than 3% on Friday after Reuters reported that China’s central bank is expected to fine the company’s Ant Group $1.2 billion, ending its investigation into Alibaba. It will allow Ant Group to revive its business growth and eventually restart plans for an IPO.

The stock market today

On the earnings front, Levi Strauss ( LEVI ) fell more than 7% after cutting its full-year guidance.

Electric vehicle giant Tesla ( TSLA ) rose 0.9% Friday morning. Dow Jones technology giants apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) was lower after today’s market opening.

Other stock market leaders include Alphabet (GOOGL) and Meta platforms (META). GOOGL shares fell 0.1%, while Meta shares rose.

Alphabet, Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), Dynatrace (DT), MongoDB (MDB) 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 current stock market downturn.

Tesla is an IBD Leaderboard stock, while Nvidia was featured this week in the Stocks Near a Buy Zone column. Alphabet and Dynatrace were the IBD stocks of the day.

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Dow Jones today: Oil prices, Treasury yields

After Friday’s opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1%, while the S&P 500 rose 0.1%. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 0.4% in morning action.

Among U.S. exchange-traded funds, Nasdaq 100 tracker Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) traded up 0.4%, while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) rose 0.1% early Friday.

The 10-year US Treasury yield ticked up to 4.08% after the jobs report as it continues to break above recent highs. The yield settled on Thursday at 4.04%, the highest level since early March.

Oil prices continued to rise on Friday morning, after a small rise on Thursday. West Texas Intermediate futures traded up about 0.3%, to near $72 a barrel.

Stock market action

On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.1 percent. In the Dow 30, American Express ( AXP ) skidded nearly 2.7%, just as it approached a 177.04 buy point in a cup with handle.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite both lost 0.8%, well off session lows. The small-cap Russell 2000 sold 1.6 percent.

Thursday’s Big Picture column commented: “Despite Thursday’s sharp losses, the stock market rally remains intact. So IBD’s recommended market exposure remains at 80%-100%. Still, investors should be prepared for the market to pull back some more.”

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 ended trading Thursday just below a 143.37 flat-base buy point after the session’s 1% decline. The 5% buy zone goes up to 150.54. JPM shares rose 0.6% on Friday morning, following an upgrade to outperform comparable results. Wolfe has its 12-month price target set at 170, about 19% above where the stock closed on Thursday.

Salesforce managed to stabilize after the post-earnings slump. 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 stock was down on Friday morning.

Payments leader Visa closed further above a flat base’s 235.57 buy point on Thursday, with a gain of 0.6%. The buy range tops out at 247.35. The V share fell 0.8% early Friday.

4 top growth stocks to buy and watch Stock market rally

Best stocks to buy and watch: Alphabet, Chipotle, Dynatrace, MongoDB, Nvidia

Wednesday’s IBD Stock Of The Day, Alphabet, is trying to find support around its 50-day line. This week, investors could have used the June 30 high of 121.08 as a buy point. But shares are below that buy trigger after Thursday’s loss of nearly 1.4%. Plus, Alphabet stock could have a real base in another week. GOOGL stock was down 0.1% on Friday morning.

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 0.3 percent Friday 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 stock fell 0.4% on Friday morning.

MongoDB traded closely following its recent earnings-driven jump, which produced a new entry. Shares are just above the three-week tight formation that showed a buy point at 398.89 after two consecutive days of losses. Meanwhile, aggressive investors could have used a trendline entry around 386. MDB stock was up 0.3% on Friday 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 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 stock rose 0.5 percent on Friday.

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.

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 snapped a six-day winning streak Thursday, sliding 2.1%. Still, Tesla shares remain well outside buy territory beyond a double-bottom buy point at 207.79.

TSLA stock appeared to recover from Thursday’s losses, climbing 0.9% on Friday.

Dow Jones Leaders: Apple, Microsoft

Among the Dow Jones stocks, Apple continued to hold close to last week’s record high of 194.48, rising 0.25% on Thursday. Shares continue to hold sharply above a buy point of 157.38. Early Friday, shares fell 0.2% in morning action.

Microsoft shares rose another 0.9% on Thursday, staying about 4% off their June 16 all-time high of 351.47. The shares are about to end with a modest weekly rise.

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 Friday morning, Microsoft shares were down 0.4%.

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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