The Dow Jones industrial average’s mild gains got squeezed in late-afternoon trading Thursday as the blue chip index struggled to snap a three-day losing streak. Other major indexes also reversed lower ahead of a fresh monthly report on the U.S. labor market. Meanwhile, Magnificent Seven stocks traded mixed. Meta Platforms (META) rose, but AI pioneer Nvidia (NVDA) backed off session highs and Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) stumbled 1.5%.
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The Dow Jones index marked a session high of 39,421, up almost 0.8%, but then sank more than 350 points, or 0.9%, with roughly an hour to go in the stock market today. The Nasdaq had outperformed the Dow Jones with a 1.1% advance but reversed for a 0.5% loss. The S&P 500 climbed as much as 0.8% before swinging 0.3% lower in late-afternoon action.
After the close, Japanese cuisine chain Kura Sushi (KRUS) is slated to report quarterly results. The stock is on track for a fifth straight loss, off 1.5%.
Stock Market Today: Jobs Report Looms
On the stock market, volume is running mixed, up more than 7% on the New York Stock Exchange but down 8% on the Nasdaq vs. the same time Wednesday.
Investors are eager to see the March nonfarm payrolls report on Friday before the open. In February, the jobless rate edged up to 3.9%. That is not expected to change, while economists see 200,000 net jobs created in the past month.
Outside the stock market, gold futures erased small losses and gained 0.4%, trading at $2,323 an ounce. Gold is shining with a 12% gain year to date.
Gold tracking exchange traded fund SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) broke out of a two-month double-bottom base — a bullish chart pattern for savvy investors — on March 1. Now it’s on pace to rally for six out of seven weeks. The ETF was flat in afternoon trading, and has advanced more than 3% so far this week.
Meanwhile, silver has moved higher as it rallied another 1.2% Thursday to $27.37 an ounce. And copper shot 1.2% higher to as high as $4.25 a pound. The industrial metal is now up 8.7% since Jan. 1, indicating global copper demand may be recovering in the wake of positive manufacturing data from China and the U.S.
Stock Market Today: Meta Jumps, Nvidia Tests 900
Elsewhere, Meta, a half size position in IBD Leaderboard, at one point jumped more than 4%. Jefferies hiked its price target on the Facebook parent to 585 from 550.
Nvidia stock cooled off, down 2.3%. At one point, Nvidia breached 900, reaching as high as 906.33, but was around 868 in late trading. The stock is up 81% thus far this year vs. a 4% gain by the Dow Jones industrials.
NVDA is slipping below support at the 21-day exponential moving average.
Outside the Dow Jones index, a couple of stocks staged fresh breakouts. Federal Signal (FSS) cleared a five-week flat base that shows an 85.98 entry. Shares in the supplier of road and infrastructure maintenance, however, faded back to the buy point. Federal Signal rose to as high as 88.47 before receding.
The 5% buy zone in Federal Signal goes up to 90.28. Volume ran more than 90% above the 50-day moving average, signaling heavy demand for the stock among mutual funds, insurers, pension plans and the like.
Google Stock: Decent Relative Strength
Alphabet, the Google search engine operator, fell nearly 2%. Reports said the web search and cloud computing titan is considering a paid service that incorporates artificial intelligence software.
Alphabet is struggling to coast past a new base with a buy point at 153.78 after its recent breakout. But Google stock has not fallen much below the entry in its cup without handle. And shares are leading the key 50-day moving average higher this past month, a bullish sign.
Google Fuels HubSpot Breakout
Reports that Alphabet is interested in purchasing marketing software firm HubSpot (HUBS) sent the latter’s shares cruising past a new buy point at 660. HubSpot pulled back from Thursday’s intraday peak yet still rose more than 5%.
Like Federal Signal, HubSpot too has formed a flat base while finding support during pullbacks to the rising 50-day moving average. The proper buy zone goes from 660 up to 693.
Please read this Investor’s Corner on the importance of buying growth stocks as close as possible to the buy point and not far extended from the pivotal breakout price.
Before Thursday’s price spurt, HubSpot held an enviable 95 Composite Rating on a scale of 1 to 99. You can see all of IBD’s stock-selection ratings, including the Composite, at IBD Stock Checkup.
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Dow Jones Today
Within the Dow Jones, half of the 30 components slumped 1 point or more. Salesforce (CRM), the enterprise software giant, led the downside. It fell more than 2% in heavy volume. The cloud-based software innovator is facing a critical test of demand at the rising 50-day moving average.
Small caps kept losses mild. The Russell 2000 fell 0.3%; trading at 2,069, it is still nursing a 1.6% loss for the week. However, the weekly chart shows bullish support at the rising 10-week moving average.
Amid a mild dip in long-term interest rates, the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bond traded at 4.33%, off its session high of 4.38%.
IBD’s Big Picture column in recent days has emphasized that although the number of distribution days remains high within the 25-session count, the stock market has been able to weather such blows.
Stock Market Today: Levi Strauss Continues Recovery
Outside the Dow Jones, Levi Strauss (LEVI) continued its impressive recovery on the stock market today. Shares bolted more than 14% higher following February-ended quarterly results that came in better than expected.
The jeans and casual apparel firm saw profit fall 24% to 26 cents a share as sales slipped 8% to $1.56 billion. However, Wall Street is expecting a robust rebound in the bottom line, with earnings expected to jump 166%, 35%, 20% and 25% over the next four quarters.
In late January, Levi Strauss made good on a second breakout attempt. After initially stumbling, shares rose past a 17.22 proper buy point in a long and deep cup with handle. Since then, the midcap stock has surged more than 27%. Thus, investors could lock in at least partial profits.
ConAgra Leads Charge
ConAgra Brands (CAG) also led the upside on the stock market today. The packaged foods titan gapped up and rallied more than 5% on fiscal third-quarter numbers. The stock rallied back above its 200-day moving average and is trying to clear resistance near 30.
The daily chart highlights a 3-1/2-month base that features the elements of a double bottom and a 29.89 entry.
However, industry compatriot Lamb Weston (LW) got creamed with a 19% drop in heavy trade. MarketWatch reported that the company’s slower than expected implementation of a new enterprise resource planning software system hit its third-quarter adjusted earnings. The supplier of frozen French fries also cut its fiscal 2024 sales outlook.
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Jessica Roberts is a seasoned business writer who deciphers the intricacies of the corporate world. With a focus on finance and entrepreneurship, she provides readers with valuable insights into market trends, startup innovations, and economic developments.
