December 22, 2024

Stocks were lower across the board and near session lows in afternoon trading Monday. Dow Jones stock Microsoft (MSFT) got a boost on news of a potential new data center, not enough to lift the Dow.




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Indexes have been fading since the open as Treasury yields extended gains following the strong March Institute for Supply Management report. The index went above 50 for the first time in 17 months.

The benchmark 10-year yield added 12 basis points to 4.33% — on pace for the largest one-day increase since Feb. 13. The two-year Treasury yield added 9 basis points to 4.71% while the one-year Treasury yield added 6 basis points to 5.08%.

This morning, the final March Purchasing Managers’ Manufacturing Index came in at 51.9 vs. the 52.5 estimate. And the Institute for Supply Management reported a March reading of 50.3 that topped the 48.3 projected for the index. Readings over 50 on both indexes generally indicate expansion while readings below 50 signal contraction.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7%, or more than 250 points.

Dow stock 3M (MMM) popped 5.1% on news its $12.5 billion settlement for contaminated drinking water got final approval by the U.S. District Court in Charleston, S.C. 3M also announced it finished its spinoff of health care business Solventum (SOLV), which started trading on Wednesday. Shares of Solventum are slated to join the S&P 500 this week.

3M stock topped a 110.65 buy point, as well as a handle entry at 91.29, in heavy volume.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq erased morning gains and shed 0.1%. The S&P 500 fell around 0.3%. Small caps took a break as the Russell 2000 slid around 1%.

Volume rose on the New York Stock Exchange and fell on the Nasdaq vs. the same time Thursday. The stock market was closed for the Good Friday holiday.

In Monday’s exchange traded fund action, the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was nearly flat, while the Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) slid 0.5%.

And West Texas intermediate crude oil rose less than 1% to $83.82 a barrel.

Stock Market Today: Trump Stock Plunges, Microsoft Jumps

Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) plunged around 24% in heavy volume on news the company lost nearly $53 million in 2023, according to a regulatory filing released on Monday. The company operates former President Donald Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social. The stock has been volatile since its started trading under the ticker DJT on Tuesday. Shares retreated below the 58.72 buy point of an irregular base, after breaking out but closing lower Tuesday.

Dow Jones stock Microsoft popped 0.5%. The company and its artificial intelligence partner, OpenAI, are planning a data center project that could cost $100 billion. The project was said to include a new AI supercomputer named Stargate, according to Barron’s.

In separate news, Jefferies raised its price target on Microsoft to 550 from 465 and held its buy rating on the Big Tech and AI stock.

Dell Technologies (DELL) rose 4% as it extends a rebound. The stock gapped up 31.6% March 1 following its fiscal fourth quarter earnings report the day before, then receded for a few weeks.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) dropped more than 7% as Truist Securities maintained its 25 price target and hold rating on the pharmacy chain. Walgreens stock was the worst performer on the S&P 500 Monday. Shares are about 6% below its 50-day moving average and in a prolonged slump.

United Parcel Service (UPS) reversed 0.9% lower following news the U.S. Postal Service selected UPS to be its main air cargo provider, replacing FedEx (FDX). UPS stock found resistance near its 50-day moving average. Shares have lost more than 6% in 2024 thus far.

Meanwhile, FedEx stock fell 3% and is trading under its 285.53 buy point. Shares gapped up after the carrier reported better-than-expected fiscal third-quarter earnings and sales just under estimates on March 21.

Micron Leads The S&P 500

Micron Technology (MU) climbed more than 5% after Bank 0f America raised its price target to 144 from 120 and maintained a buy rating on the memory-chip stock. The company reported a surprise profit and sales higher than views on March 20. Micron reached an all-time high Monday and was the biggest gainer on the S&P 500 on Monday.

Bitcoin’s price lost ground and was above $68,600. Bitcoin-related stocks were lower on the stock market today.

Bitcoin miner and IBD 50 stock CleanSpark (CLSK) gapped down more than 10%, adding to Thursday’s 8.2% sell-off. The stock fell below its 21-day exponential moving average as it tested support. The company reported its March results, with 806 bitcoins mined in March, up 24% from February.

MicroStrategy (MSTR), which owns a large amount of bitcoin, sank 6.5% in the stock market today. Coinbase (COIN) fell around 5.4% while Marathon Digital (MARA) skidded 6%.

Stock Market Today: Google Stock In Buy Zone

Alphabet (GOOGL) surged 2.7% and broke out of a cup base with a 153.78 buy point. Shares are in the 5% buy zone up to 161.47. Volume was flat, however.

Delta Air Lines (DAL) rose 1.4% after Morgan Stanley raised its price target to 85 from 77 and maintained its overweight rating on the airline. Morgan Stanley chose Delta as a top airline stock for 2024. Delta stock is nearing the 49.81 buy point of a deep cup base. The company reports its first-quarter results on April 10.

AT&T (T) shed 1% following Saturday’s news that personal data was leaked about two weeks ago from about 7.6 million current AT&T account holders and around 65.4 million former account holders.

And among Magnificent Seven stocks, Tesla (TSLA) fell 2.2% while Leaderboard stock Nvidia (NVDA) gave back 0.9% on the stock market today.

Follow Kimberley Koenig for more stock market news on X/Twitter @IBD_KKoenig.

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Source: investors.com

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