After spending much of the morning in mixed trade Wednesday, major stock market indexes ventured slowly into positive ground in midday action as investors digested negative manufacturing data from the Federal Reserve. Meanwhile, Tesla (TSLA) continued to run after hitting an early buy point Tuesday.
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average moved up 0.2% while the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq inched higher. The small-cap Russell 2000 was up substantially earlier but pared those gains and also was up modestly. Volume was higher on both the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq compared with the same time on Tuesday.
The Fed said its Richmond district manufacturing index plunged to -11, down sharply from November’s -5 reading. Economists had expected a reading of -6. This survey tracks business conditions in the district’s multistate, Southeast-region manufacturing sector. The survey also showed that companies remained generally pessimistic about local business conditions.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury slid 7 basis points to 3.82%. And West Texas intermediate crude dropped 1.7%.
A member of the so-called Magnificent Seven, Tesla rose more than 2% Wednesday after rising 1.6% Tuesday. The move on Tuesday put Tesla stock back above an early entry at 252.75 and into an aggressive buy zone. The electric-vehicle giant has a big double-bottom pattern with conventional buy point of 278.98.
It was reported Tuesday that Tesla plans to refresh its most popular EV, the Model Y, at its factory in China. Tesla also reportedly plans mass production of the revamped car by mid-2024, reports said. Meanwhile, studies are showing that EV purchases may be losing momentum.
Stock Market: Magnificent Seven In And Around Buy Zones
All the other stocks in the Magnificent Seven also maneuvered in and around buy zones Wednesday. Apple (AAPL) was down fractionally despite winning a court ruling regarding its smartwatches.
A U.S. appeals court paused a ban on the Apple Watch put on by the International Trade Commission in October over concerns that a blood-oxygen sensor infringed on intellectual property. The tech icon sits just below its 192.93 cup-with-handle buy point and is now below the 21-day exponential moving average.
Microsoft (MSFT) remained in its buy zone out of a cup base despite being down marginally. It was reported that the New York Times is suing Microsoft and OpenAI for copyright infringement involving the use of artificial intelligence. The Times contends that the companies’ AI products are trained on millions of pieces of Times content.
Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) also continued in a buy zone on the stock market despite a fractional loss. Google stock now sits near the bottom of the buy area, which goes from 139.42 to 146.39.
Also in the Magnificent Seven, Nvidia (NVDA) was nearly flat in another attempt to surge through its buy zone. Nvidia stock has been in and out of buy range from a double-bottom base since early November.
Amazon.com (AMZN) started to move above its buy zone, but gave back gains and was flat in recent trades. Amazon also has hovered around a buy zone out of a consolidation since last month.
And Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META) continued to extend above its buy zone with a fractional gain on the stock market today.
IBD 50 Stocks On The Move
Among IBD 50 stocks, Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (AMPH) started out higher, but reversed and was slightly down in midday trading. It remains just above its cup-with-handle buy zone with an entry of 58.35. The biotech had been in and out of the buy area since early December.
Enterprise software player Samsara (IOT) made a move out of its buy zone but slipped back toward it by midday. Samsara’s cup base has a buy point of 32.41. The stock now has formed a three-weeks-tight pattern with a 36.91 buy point.
After pushing into a buy zone Tuesday, oil services company Tidewater (TDW) worked its way to the top of the zone in midday action Wednesday. Tidewater was in a consolidation with a buy point of 73.55, but an early entry was available at 72.06.
Three cruise lines on the IBD 50 staggered in midday trades on the stock market. The leader of the pack, Royal Caribbean Group (RCL), slipped slightly Wednesday but remains firmly extended above its cup-base buy zone.
Carnival (CCL), meanwhile, continued to stumble after touching a 19.55 entry out of a cup base late last week. Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) also sank Wednesday as its effort to reach a 22.75 buy point out of a cup base seems to be withering.
Stock Market: Cryptocurrency, Companies In The News
A number of cryptocurrency stocks were up sharply on hopes that the Securities and Exchange Commission will approve a bitcoin exchange traded fund in coming weeks. Among the gainers were Marathon Digital (MARA) and Hut 8 (HUT), which both surged more than 12% in midday action.
Elsewhere, T-Mobile US (TMUS) was up on reports that Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank Group (SFTBY) has called for T-Mobile to issue it 48.75 million more shares.
CNBC reported the move is predicated on conditions set out with the merger of SoftBank’s Sprint operations with that of T-Mobile in 2020. SoftBank now doubles its stake in T-Mobile to 7.64% from 3.75%. Softbank’s U.S. shares rose 2.5%.
Biotech stock Cytokinetics (CYTK) catapulted more than 75% after it announced positive results from a Phase 3 clinical trial on a drug to treat symptomatic obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The genetic heart condition afflicts 700,000 people in the U.S., according to the National Institutes of Health.
And First Solar (FSLR) was up fractionally after it was reported the solar energy provider would sell $700 million in manufacturing tax credits to Fiserv (FI). Fiserv stock also was up slightly in recent action.
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Source: investors.com
