Dow Jones futures extended gains Friday ahead of more economic data, following Thursday’s stock market rally to new highs. Meanwhile, Costco stock rallied after the retailer reported strong earnings results and announced a special dividend.
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As the week ends, investors are keeping an eye on three reports coming out Friday morning: the Empire State manufacturing index, the industrial production report and the Purchasing Managers’ Index.
The December Empire State manufacturing index, due at 8:30 a.m. ET, is expected to slow to 3.7 after November’s 9.1 reading. That report comes from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Further, Wall Street sees industrial production increasing 0.3% in November, up from October’s 0.6% drop. The Federal Reserve is expected to issue those findings at 9:15 a.m.
Finally, the S&P Global U.S. Composite PMIs for the manufacturing and services indexes are expected at 49.2 and 50.6, respectively. Those numbers are due at 9:45 am.
In Friday’s market, key earnings movers included Costco Wholesale (COST) and homebuilder Lennar (LEN).
COST stock raced nearly 3% higher after the company beat expectations for its fiscal first-quarter earnings and the retailer’s board declared a special $15 a share dividend. Lennar shares sold off 2.2% in premarket action.
Dow Jones Today: Oil Prices, Treasury Yields
Ahead of Friday’s opening bell, Dow Jones futures rose 0.2% vs. fair value as did S&P 500 futures. And tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.3% in premarket action.
Among U.S. exchange traded funds, the Nasdaq 100 tracker Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) moved up 0.3%, while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) rose 0.25% early Friday.
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond kept falling, dropping further below the 4% mark to 3.89% Friday morning. On Thursday, the benchmark tumbled to 3.93%, its lowest level since late July.
Oil prices looked to rebound for a third day Friday, as West Texas Intermediate futures rose nearly 1%. WTI moved above $72 a barrel. Earlier this week, WTI hit its lowest level since late June before bouncing.
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Stock Market Rally
The stock market rose modestly Thursday, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.4% to hit another all-time high. The S&P 500 gained 0.3%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite moved up 0.2%, as they both notched fresh 2023 highs.
One notable divergence was the fall of nearly 0.2% in the Nasdaq 100. That indicated underperformance among megacap tech stocks.
Thursday’s Big Picture column commented, “Meanwhile, more leading stocks are breaking out. And a great resource for daily breakouts is IBD MarketSmith’s “Breaking Out Today” list. It shows MarketSmith Growth 250 stocks topping buy points. In Thursday’s list, there were 18 new breakouts, including Builders FirstSource (BLDR) and Trex (TREX).”
Now is an important time to read IBD’s The Big Picture column amid the continuing stock market rally. Be sure to read how to invest during the ongoing stock market uptrend.
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Stock Market Today: Best Stocks To Buy And Watch
Chip giant Applied Materials (AMAT), IBD Leaderboard stock Arm (ARM), IBD SwingTrader issue Netflix (NFLX) and Snowflake (SNOW) — along with Dow Jones stocks Boeing (BA), JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Visa (V) — are among the best stocks to buy and watch in the current market rally.
Apple and Snowflake are featured in this Stocks Near A Buy Zone column.
Get Real-time Buy And Sell Alerts On Stock Market Leaders With IBD Leaderboard
Dow Jones Stocks To Watch: JPMorgan Breaks Out
Aerospace stock Boeing moved out of buy range past a cup base’s 243.10 buy point Thursday, with a 2.1% rise. The 5% buy zone topped out at 255.26. BA stock inched higher Friday.
Banking giant JPMorgan is breaking out and in buy range past a 159.38 buy point in a cup base, rallying 1.8% Thursday. JPM stock climbed 0.3% Friday.
Payments leader Visa reversed sharply lower Thursday, still in the buy range above a 250.06 buy point in a cup base, according to IBD MarketSmith pattern recognition. V stock bounced 0.3% Friday.
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Stocks To Buy And Watch: NFLX Eyes Buy Point
Chip giant and recent IBD Stock Of The Day Applied Materials rallied 3% Thursday, hitting a fresh 52-week high. Shares are extended past a 148.40 double-bottom entry, but they are in buy range past an alternate buy point at 157.76. AMAT stock moved up 0.6% early Friday.
IBD Leaderboard stock Arm is breaking out past a 64.92 buy point in a cup with handle, according to IBD MarketSmith. The 5% buy area went up to 68.17. ARM stock added 1.1% Friday.
IBD SwingTrader stock Netflix slid 2.1% Thursday, ending a five-day win streak. The streaming giant is nearing a 482.70 buy point in a cup with handle. NFLX stock moved up 0.3% Friday morning.
Artificial intelligence leader Snowflake is breaking out past a cup-with-handle’s 192.66 buy point. SNOW stock climbed 2.2% Thursday, closing further above the buy trigger and extending a win streak to six sessions. SNOW stock tacked on 0.7% early Friday.
Best Stocks In Today’s Stock Market Action
These are four best stocks to watch in today’s stock market, including a Dow Jones leader.
| Company Name | Symbol | Correct Buy Point | Type Of Buy Point |
|---|---|---|---|
| Applied Materials | (AMAT) | 145.86 | Alternate entry |
| JPMorgan | (JPM) | 159.38 | Cup base |
| Netflix | (NFLX) | 482.70 | Cup with handle |
| Snowflake | (SNOW) | 192.66 | Cup with handle |
Source: IBD Data As Of Dec. 14, 2023
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Magnificent Seven Stocks: Nvidia, Tesla
Among the so-called “Magnificent Seven” stocks, Tesla (TSLA) moved up 1% early Friday, while Nvidia (NVDA) dipped 0.2%.
Graphics-chip giant Nvidia moved up 0.55% Thursday, still in buy range above a 476.09 double-bottom entry.
Tesla stock rallied nearly 5% Thursday, briefly topping an early entry at 252.75 before closing below it. The stock’s big double-bottom pattern has a 278.98 buy point.
Dow Jones Leaders: Apple, Microsoft
Two Dow Jones stocks in the Magnificent Seven, Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT), traded mixed ahead of today’s stock market open.
Apple stock moved up 0.1% Thursday, as its breakout move continues to gain traction. Shares are in a buy range above a cup-with-handle entry at 192.93. Apple shares lost a fraction Friday.
Microsoft stock gave up its 366.78 cup-base buy point during Thursday’s 2.25% slide. And the software giant was up 0.4% Friday morning.
Be sure to follow Scott Lehtonen on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @IBD_SLehtonen for more on growth stocks and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
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Source: investors.com
