Stocks jumped on Monday in April’s first full trading week, bolstered by a strong March payroll report delivered during Friday’s holiday. Airlines, casinos and semiconductors all made early profits. Tesla led the manufacturers of electric vehicles after reaching the first quarter for delivery. Boeing climbed the Dow Jones in a buyout series today.
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The Dow industrials briefly plowed 300 points higher, by 0.8% to reach a new record high. The S&P 500 rose 0.9% on the stock market today, sending it to its own new record above 4,000. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.1%, giving it a little more breathing space above its 50-day moving average.
Tesla (TSLA) was a big early car, with nearly 5% after it reported on Friday that its delivery easily exceeded expectations in the first quarter. Tesla shares are trying to start on the right side of a three-month consolidation, but are wrestling resistance against its exponential moving average of 21 days.
Other manufacturers of electric cars have in the early trade, with Ford Motor (F) rose 1.9% after delivering more than 6,600 Mach-E Mustangs during the quarter. IBD Leaderboard stock General Motors (GM) rose 2.9% in early trading. Among China-based EV manufacturers, Nine (NIO) added 0.5%, while Xpeng (XPEV) decreased by 1.2%. Li Auto (LI) also reversed lower and decreased by 0.3%.
Caesars Entertainment (CZR) jumped 4.3%, while MGM Resorts International (MGM) rose 6.5% after Morgan Stanley upgraded both shares to overweight. Airline also showed early power, with United Airlines Holdings (UAL) and American Airlines Group (AAL) each increased by about 4%.
Staalmaker Cleveland Cliffs (CLF) gained 3.8% in early trading. The IBD 50 stock ended in a buyout series on Thursday after breaking above an 18.87 buy point in an 11-week cup basis on Wednesday.
Payroll report blows past target
Data released by the Labor Department on the Good Friday holiday showed an increase of 916 000 jobs in March and strong upward changes to January and February. The combination raised the unemployment rate to 6.0% and increased the ‘risk-on’ mood shown by investors late last week.
The 6% unemployment rate met expectations, but the 916,000 figure came well above the projections for an increase of 625,000 workers. Non-farm wage service remains 8.4 million lower than a peak of 152.5 million in February 2020.
Boeing buys on Dow Jones today
Boeing (BA) swung 2.1% higher today to lead the Dow Jones. The IBD Leaderboard stock cleared a cup-based buy-in at 244.18 in early March and then retreated to test the entry, as well as support at the 21-day exponential moving average.
The setback of 21-day support leaves the Boeing share low in a buy range, stretching to 256.39.
Microsoft (MSFT), the other Dow Jones stock on the Leaderboard list, traded 0.6% higher early Monday. That moved the heavyweight software developer and cloud service provider to less than 1% below a 246.23 buy point on a six-week basis.
Taiwan semiconductor converters, disk supplies rise
Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) led the Leaderboard list in forex trading, but fell 0.1%. The stock suffered a five-week setback last week and made a big profit on Thursday after announcing a $ 100 billion plan to expand Taiwan Semi’s production capacity over the next three years.
The news has increased disk supplies in general, with chip equipment manufacturers receiving the biggest boost. Applied materials (AMAT) and Lamb research (LRCX) traded on the Nasdaq 100 early Monday, up 1.1% and 1.3% respectively.
The iShares PHLX Semiconductor (SOXX) climbed 0.9%, and the VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH) added early trading 0.6%. Both ETFs are just below buying points in base patterns. The buying point of the PHLX fund is at 444.07. The VanEck fund’s buying point is 258.69.
Oil, copper, bonds, bitcoin
The oil price fell sharply, with West Texas Intermediate up more than 2% but holding more than $ 60 a barrel. Buyer jumped higher and rose 2.8% to trade at more than $ 4.10 per pound. Copper peaked at $ 4.30 in February for ten years.
Bonds were effectively flat, with the 10-year yield by 1 basis point to 1.73%. Yields recovered rapidly from record lows of around 0.50% in August. They clinched pre-pandemic levels last week and rose above 1.76% – the highest level since January 2020. Yields started at around 1.8% in 2020, declining from around 2.7% a years before.
Stock Market ETF Strategy and How to Invest in the Current Uptrend
The markets in Hong Kong remain closed on Monday and Tuesday and plan to reopen on Wednesday. Stock markets in Shanghai, London, Frankfurt and Paris reopened on Tuesday.
Bitcoin eased slightly early Monday, up 0.3% and less than $ 58,000. according to CoinDesk. The cryptocurrency climbed to a record high of $ 61,556 on March 13th.
Biotechs lead early rallies
Small capos rose sharply in early trade, with the Russell 2000 up 1%. Biotech and pharma helped to increase early profits under lower case. Russell 2000 stock Invitae (NVTA) vaulted 8% higher after the company announced a $ 200 million acquisition. In addition, Japan’s SoftBank Group (SFTBY) takes a $ 1.1 billion piece of the company in the form of convertible senior debt. SoftBank shares rose more than 5%.
Also on the Russell 2000, Supernus Pharmaceutical Products (SUPN) jumped by 8.2% and Pacific Biosciences (PACB) increased by 5.7%.
The VanEck Vectors Biotech ETF (BBH) outperformed the general market with an advance of 0.3%.
Nano-X imaging (NNOX) increased 35% in opening trading, after announcing on Friday that its single source Nanox.ARC digital X-Ray technology 510 (k) had received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration. The Israel-based Nanox.ARC technology emits less radiation than traditional X-ray techniques.
The new August issue ends Thursday 130% above the initial offer price in August, and 56% lower than the peak in January.
Dow Jones Today: A Strong First Quarter
Healthy progress on Wednesday and Thursday again lifted the Nasdaq above its 50-day moving average, as well as its 21-day exponential moving average. The S&P 500 is at a new high and above the 4000 level.
Meanwhile, the Dow Jones today is just below its high of a week ago after three days of trading levels. For the first quarter and the year to date, the Dow has climbed 11.3%, almost double the progress of the S&P 500 by 5.8%. The Nasdaq rose 2.7%.
Nearly 7% of the Dow rise occurred in March. The S&P 500 rose 4.4% for the month, while the Nasdaq posted a 0.4% gain. This closed a third month of exceptionally strict monthly closures for the Nasdaq.
For a more detailed analysis of the current stock market and its status, study the big picture.
Strong gains on Wednesday and Thursday sent bullish follow-up signals, and market status is back on track in a confirmed uptrend. But it is important to note that the Nasdaq closes carefully. It shows how institutional investors are lazing around, possibly waiting to see the rising returns from the treasury play out, or perhaps the Biden government is waiting to prove that it can advance budgetary and policy initiatives in a densely divided Senate.
The Nasdaq hold on support above its 50-day line is tentatively tentative, and the 13,600 level may offer additional resistance. A further day or two will give the rise a bit of a margin to bank on and possibly narrow the gap between Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Dow Industries. The Nasdaq will then face the 14,000-point mark again, which it broke above in February shortly before turning lower.
Find Alan R. Elliott on Twitter @IBD_Aelliott
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