Dow Jones Futures Higher After Surprise Jobless Claims; Block crash 20% on card seller report
Dow Jones futures chased tech futures higher on Thursday, angling for a rebound after Wednesday’s Fed-driven stock market sell-off and in the wake of a surprise drop in the Labor Department’s initial jobless claims report. Block (SQ) crashed 20% after short seller Hindenburg Research issued a brief report on the stock, saying “Our research indicates that Block has overstated true user numbers and underestimated customer acquisition costs.”
X
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Meta platforms (META), Microsoft (MSFT), Nvidia (NVDA) and Tesla ( TSLA ) was higher in morning trading.
Weekly initial jobless claims fell to 191,000 from 192,000 last week. They were expected to rise to 195,000, according to Econoday estimates. Meanwhile, sales of new homes in February are expected to fall to 645,000 against January’s 670,000. The Department of Commerce must release sales numbers for new homes at 10 a.m. ET. (For our latest coverage of the market’s action, go to our Stock Market Today page.)
Performance Results: Darden, KB Home
Sticky (WHEEL), Darden restaurants (DRI), General Mills (GIS) and KB Home (KBH) were income drivers on Thursday morning.
Chewy shares fell 4.7 percent. Darden shares rose 1.5% in premarket trading, suggesting an early move back into a buy area above the 152.18 flat-base entry. General Mills shares rose 1.2 percent. And KBH shares rose 3%, moving closer to a buy point of 41.02.
The stock market today
Advanced Micro Devices added 1.8% Thursday morning, a move that would extend the stock’s rally above a flat-base buy point of 89.04. Nvidia climbed 1.9% after Needham raised the graphics chip maker’s price target from 270 to 300.
Electric car giant Tesla traded 1.9 percent higher on Thursday. Dow Jones technology giants apple (AAPL) and Microsoft were sharply higher ahead of today’s stock market opening.
Adjust technology (ALGN), IBD SwingTrader makes Meta Platforms and IBD Leaderboard Palo Alto Networks (PANW) — as well as Dow Jones shares Nike and Salesforce (CRM) – are among the best stocks to watch in the ongoing stock market correction.
Palo Alto is an IBD Leaderboard stock. Align was a recent IBD Stock Of The Day. Microsoft was featured in this week’s Stocks Near a Buy Zone column. And Meta is an IBD SwingTrader stock.
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Dow Jones today: Oil prices, Treasury yields
Ahead of Thursday’s opening bell, Dow Jones futures rose 0.15% versus the real value, while S&P 500 futures gained 0.5%. Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.9% in morning action.
Among U.S. exchange-traded funds, Nasdaq 100 tracker Invesco QQQ Trust ( QQQ ) was up 0.9% and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF ( SPY ) was up 0.5% early Thursday.
The 10-year US Treasury yield ticked down to 3.5% as bonds rose and the dollar swooned after the Federal Reserve’s rate decision. On Thursday, the 10-year continued lower, ticking down to 3.47%.
The US oil price stalled after Wednesday’s modest rise saw West Texas Intermediate back above $70 a barrel. WTI futures traded narrowly lower on Thursday, holding just above the $70 level.
Stock correction
On Wednesday, the Nasdaq Composite swung from an early rally that nearly hit 1.3% to end Wednesday’s closely watched session up 1.6%. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.6% to 1.7%. Meanwhile, small banks led the small-cap tasting; The Russell 2000 fell 2.8%.
Wednesday’s Big Picture column commented: “Does this mean it’s time to throw in the towel? Absolutely not. One thing hasn’t changed: In the stock market, human emotion rules. Fear can quickly turn to greed. Put another way, institutional investors change their thinking from market values ​​as exaggerated to offering good value.”
Now is an important time to read IBD’s The Big Picture column amid the ongoing stock market correction.
Five Dow Jones Stocks to Buy and Watch Now
Dow Jones stocks to watch: Nike, Salesforce
Since the Oct. 3 bottom, Nike shares have rallied as much as 59% to a recent high of 131.31. Now, the stock is consolidating within a flat base that offers a buy point at 131.41, according to IBD MarketSmith pattern recognition.
After Wednesday’s 4.9% drop, the stock bearishly gave up its 50-day moving average, a key benchmark, just one day after a strong retracement of that level. The NKE share rose 0.5% early Thursday.
In recent weeks, Dow Jones leader Salesforce has shown great upside following strong results for the fourth quarter. The stock is now above the 178.94 cup-with-handle entry after big gains recently. Nevertheless, the market is in a correction, so investors should avoid new purchases until the market environment improves. CRM shares rose 0.7% early Thursday.
3 top growth stocks to watch Stock correction
Top stocks to watch: Align, Meta, Palo Alto
Align Technology continues to track a consolidation that has multiple buy points: an early entry at 357.10 and a conventional entry at 368.97. The share rose 1.5 percent on Thursday morning.
Background story: The company makes clear teeth straightening systems called Invisalign. UBS analyst Kevin Caliendo says investors have recently regained confidence in Align stock, which is up 50% this year. Quarterly results from Align and its competitors at the end of December, management comments, US economic data and a recent increase in demand for Invisalign cases support this view, he said in a note to clients.
Background story: Like its social media rivals, Meta is struggling due to a sharp reduction in ad revenue as clients reel over macroeconomic concerns, recession fears and higher interest rates. This comes as it spends billions of dollars in a risky effort to build the “metaverse,” a virtual reality world that has yet to catch on.
IBD Leaderboard stock Palo Alto Networks gave up a cup-with-handle buy point of 192.94 during Wednesday’s 1.85% decline. If the stock recovers the buy point, the buy range will run up to 202.59. PANW shares traded up 1.1% on Thursday.
Background story: On Feb. 21, the cybersecurity giant announced strong results for the quarter ended in January, with earnings reaching $1.05 per share, up 81% from a year earlier, on a 26% jump in revenue to $1.7 billion.
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Shares to watch in the stock market Correction
These are four top stocks to watch in today’s stock market, including two Dow Jones leaders.
| company name | Symbol | Right point of purchase | Type of point of purchase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta platforms | (META) | 197.26 | Flat base |
| Nike | (of) | 131.41 | Flat base |
| Palo Alto Networks | (PANW) | 192.94 | Cup with handle |
| Salesforce | (CRM) | 178.94 | Cup with handle |
Source: IBD data as of March 23, 2023
Join IBD experts as they analyze leading stocks in the current stock market correction on IBD Live
Tesla shares
Tesla shares fell 3.25% on Wednesday, ending a two-day winning streak and giving back some of Tuesday’s bullish rally. Shares continue to rise from the 50-day moving average. Shares closed Wednesday about 50% off their 52-week high.
TSLA stock rose 1.9% Thursday morning as it appeared to recover from Wednesday’s losses.
Dow Jones Leaders: Apple, Microsoft
Among the Dow Jones stocks, Apple stock turned 0.9% lower on Wednesday after the session saw the stock hit its highest level since September 12. AAPL rose 1.1% Thursday.
Microsoft shares broke out above a flat base of 276.86 buy points on Friday. But the stock fell further below that entry during Wednesday’s 0.5% drop. MSFT shares rose 1.2% early Thursday.
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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