Stocks are sticking to mixed trading on Friday despite strong housing data in March and a number of record GDP data from China boosting global trade. Shares including PPG, Lattice Semiconductor and IBD 50 stock. Progyny blew to early eruptions. At the Dow Jones today, Cisco Systems and Caterpillar also closed buying points.
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The Dow industries and the S&P 500 both opened on new highs, although the Dow cooled rapidly to a 0.4% increase and the S&P 500 rose 0.2%. Nasdaq Composite losses declined, trading 0.1% in the stock market today Splunk (SPLK) fell to the bottom of the Nasdaq 100 hard after a analyst downgraded, and Paypal Holdings (PYPL), Tesla (TSLA) and Netflix (NFLX) all lost field.
Alexion Pharmaceutical Products (ALXN) rose more than 4%, representing the Nasdaq 100. UK-based AstraZeneca (AZN) has announced that U.S. regulators have approved the purchase of the Boston-based biotechnology. The companies announced the $ 39 billion deal in December.
Fertility Specialist Progyny (PGNY) jumped 7.2% in early action and easily led the IBD 50 list. Standard & Poor’s said late Thursday that the company will join the S&P 400 index Lattice Semiconductor (LSCC), beginning April 20th. Progyny shares closed about 6% below a buyout of 53.58 on an eight-week cup basis on Thursday.
Lattice Semiconductor attended 9% on the S&P 400 news, and the Oregon-based disk developer positioned for a potential start of the breakthrough of a clock past a purchase base of the cup base at 51.59. Standard & Poor’s also announced the software developer PTC (PTC) would move from the S&P 400 to the S&P 500 on April 20. PTC shares fell 0.5%, indicating a possible breakthrough after a buyout of 147.77 in a six-cup base.
Cisco leads Dow Jones today, Nears Buy Point
Cisco systems (CSCO) set the Dow Jones’ early pace today, with a 2.6% increase after Wolfe Research upgraded the stock to outperform its peer-to-peer performance. The note sets the target price of the stock at 63, about 22% higher than where shares closed on Thursday.
Cisco shares are strong again because of its 21-day exponential moving average, and just cents below 53.04 buying points in a three-week tight base pattern.
Home Depot (HD) posted a 1.5% gain followed by a sixth straight weekly advance. Bank of America raised the price target from 375 to 375 of the stock. The share in Home Depot has been extended, with an increase of almost 12% after an outbreak at the end of March.
March Housing begins to rise; China reports GDP
Housing rose at an annual rate of 1,739 million in March, the Department of Commerce reported. It was a whopping 22% jump above February’s rate of 1.421 million, well above expectations for a rate of 1.620 million.
The building permits increased by 3% to an annual rate of 1,766 million. Economists predicted an increase of 1.75 million permits.
The preliminary University Consumer Sentiment Index reading from the University of Michigan showed an increase of 86.5, compared to the original 84.9 score of February. Friday’s note increased the reading from February to 89, which technically reduced the reading for March.
China shares were moderately positive after official data released on Friday showed that China’s GDP grew 18.3% in the first quarter. Overall, record growth is expected as the economy recovers from the historically weak world performance in the first quarter of 2020. Bloomberg reported the expectations of economists for a profit of 18.5%.
Earnings News: Alcoa, PPG, JBHunt
Aluminum miner Alcoa (AA), manufacturer of paints and varnishes PPG Industries (PPG) and super regional bank PNC Financial (PNC), three of Pittsburgh’s largest companies, reported quarterly results late Thursday. Alcoa rose more than 7% to a new high. PNC rose 2.4%, in a buy range at a rebound from its ten-week moving average.
PPG Industries rose more than 10% to above the S&P 500, after reporting earnings up 21% in the first quarter. Sales growth also turned positive after a three-quarter slump. Growth in raw material costs has accelerated, but management said that for the rest of the year we ‘expect overall global coverage growth to be broadly based in most of the end markets we supply.’
PPG even lies with a buy point of 153.91, after a drop below the entry to test ten-week support.
Truck fleet / logistics leader JB Hunt Transportation Services (JBHT) rose 4% to a new high after hitting solid sales and earnings in the first quarter. Business Partner Marten Vervoer (MRTN) gained 1.6%, after reporting mixed results late Thursday.
Banks were, in addition to PNC, also on the list of revenue collectors, with Western Alliance (WAL) by 2.8% higher and Ally Financial (ALLY) hit a 3.3% after the results were reported. Investment banker Morgan StanleyMS declined 1.1% in early trading as investors sorted out its first-quarter earnings results.
Important signs: oil, bond yields
The futures price for oil prices was steady after a four-day advance lifted West Texas Intermediate by nearly 7%, the best week for oil since early March. WTI fell more than $ 63 a barrel early Friday. A surge on Wednesday lifted prices to the highest level since mid-March, but still below a high of early March at $ 65.05. Oil prices are an important indicator of confidence in the recovery economy.
Stock Market ETF Strategy and How to Invest in the Current Uptrend
Bonds that fell after an increase in demand on Thursday yielded the yield to their biggest one-day drop since November. CBOE data showed that ten-year yields closed at 1.53% on Thursday and traded around 1.57% early Friday.
Yields topped pre-pandemic levels earlier this month, rising above 1.76% – the highest level since January 2020.
Bitcoin, Coinbase IPO Trading Lower
Bitcoin continued to retreat after hitting a new high above $ 64,800 on Wednesday. The crypto-currency declined by about 3% early Thursday, and held just over $ 60,000 earlier Thursday. It has been up more than 108% since December 31.
Shares of cryptocurrency exchanges Coinbase Global (COIN) jumped 31% in their initial public offering on Wednesday. Coinbase’s share price rose to 66% intraday and ended the session at 323.28, giving the company a market value of $ 87.3 billion. Coinbase shares rose 1.6% early Friday.
CAN SLIM rules recommend not to jump to IPOs too early, amidst all the initial speculation and excitement. It is better to look at the chart of the new stocks. Waiting for the formation and outbreak of an IPO base can limit the negative risk.
Dow Jones, S&P 500 Set Pace, Nasdaq Eyes Record High
The Dow Jones starts today with a 0.7% increase to Thursday and follows up on what could be a fourth straight weekly advance. These are the largest three benchmarks with an increase of 11.2% since 31 December. The S&P 500 has a 1% increase for the week and is 11% higher this year. The Nasdaq is also up 1% for the week, which is just a fraction below its February 16 record, with an annual increase of 8.2%.
UnitedHealth Group (UNH) has the biggest move among Dow Jones shares over the past five sessions, with 6.9%. Shares are extended after receiving a major boost from its earnings report in the first quarter on Thursday.
Honeywell (HON) climbed 4.5%, making it the second-largest gain among Dow Jones equities. Salesforce.com (CRM) was next in line with a gain of 3.8%. Salesforce has now completed a valid double bottom base with a buy point at 251.33. Shares ended about 8% below the subscription on Thursday.
Dow Jones Today: Caterpillar Se Bullish New Buy Point
Despite Dow’s four-week gain, Boeing (BA), Intel (INTC) and Amgen (AMGN) stays in buying ranges or just below buying points with the earnings turning. Intel and Honeywell report earnings next week, along with half a dozen other Dow Jones names.
appeal (AAPL) also formed a cup, with an active buying point at 145.19, also 8% higher than the stock that ended Thursday.
Microsoft (MSFT) expanded. A setback Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) has the Dow’s biggest year to date profit, with nearly 35%. Intel has a profit of 30.5%. Goldman Sachs rose 28.4% and remains in a buy price with a rebound from its ten-week moving average.
Ruspe (CAT) remains a blue chip stock to look at. The stock has risen nearly 28% since the beginning of the year, and is now strong at its 21-day moving average, just 2% below a buy point of 237.88 in the IBD MarketSmith analysis as a bullish rising base .
Find Alan R. Elliott on Twitter @IBD_Aelliott
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