The Dow Jones Industrial Average and other major indexes kept climbing Tuesday as investors took a bullish tone ahead of key economic data. Magnificent Seven companies headed into earnings week with Nvidia approaching a key threshold and Google-parent Alphabet rising in a buy zone on the stock market today. And Tesla climbed ahead of critical quarterly results, due after the close.
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Building on Monday’s gains, the Dow industrials climbed 0.7% while the S&P 500 gained 1.3% in recent action. Among the sectors, technology and communication services gained the most while materials and consumer staples lagged. The Nasdaq led the major indexes with a 1.7% jump.
On the economic front, first-quarter GDP results are due Thursday while the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, the core personal consumption expenditures price index, is expected to follow on Friday.
Both are considered vital data points for the Fed. Economists expect the inflation index to rise slightly to 2.6% after February’s 2.5% gain on an annual basis.
Tech Indicator Rises Again
Ahead of a slew of earnings for major tech players this week, the Philadelphia semiconductor index rose for the second straight session on the stock market today. The index erased some of the sharp losses it incurred last week.
Small caps headed higher for the third straight session, helping the Russell 2000 index gain 2.1% on Tuesday while growth stocks in the Innovator IBD 50 (FFTY) exchange traded fund posted a 2.9% gain.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 3 basis points to 4.59%.
Volume on both the New York Stock Exchange and on the Nasdaq was higher compared with the same time on Monday. Advancers led decliners by nearly 8-to-1 on the NYSE and 4-to-1 on the Nasdaq.
While a high level of vigilance for sell signals in stocks remains a priority, the short-term overbought-oversold oscillator on IBD MarketSurge remains near its October oversold levels.
Dow Jones On Stock Market Today
Meanwhile, stocks on the Dow Jones index were mostly higher.
Merck (MRK), Intel (INTC) and Caterpillar (CAT) are set to report first-quarter results on Thursday. Merck is at its 21-day moving average.
Apple (AAPL) rose 0.5% but remained well below its 50-day moving average.
New research shows that iPhone sales in China slumped amid competition from local rivals, while Huawei made a successful comeback to the higher-end segment with the launch of its 5G-capable series. Weak China sales have been plaguing the iPhone maker for a while now even as other risks from antitrust suits are rife.
Stock Market Today: GM On The Move
General Motors (GM) jumped more than 5% after sales and earnings came in above views. The company also raised its earnings forecast for the full year.
In electronic design automation, Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) trimmed its losses to less than 1% after its outlook for the second quarter missed views. Cadence is an Investor’s Business Daily Long Term Leader. Also, GE Aerospace (GE) surged nearly 7% after its quarterly earnings, its first report as a stand-alone company.
Four Magnificent Seven stocks will report earnings this week. Up first is Tesla (TSLA), due to report its March-ended quarter results after the market close Tuesday. Shares were up more than 2% on what some say could be a day of reckoning after first-quarter deliveries sunk to their lowest level since the second quarter of 2022. Tesla stock is down more than 40% so far this year.
Analysts expect a decline in both sales and earnings for Tesla. Tesla cut prices for its electric vehicles and full self-driving vehicles going into earnings while also launching a new model 3 performance to rev up demand. On X/Twitter, Chief Executive Musk touted that the new performance version was “quicker than a Porsche 911.”
Also in the Magnificent Seven, Facebook-parent Meta Platforms (META) will follow with its earnings report on Wednesday, with Google-parent Alphabet (GOOGL) and Microsoft (MSFT) reporting Thursday
Google stock is in a buy zone with an entry point of 153.78 ahead of earnings, while Meta and Tesla reversed higher on the stock market today. Analysts see growth for Meta, Alphabet and Microsoft when they report.
Fellow Magnificent Seven stock Nvidia (NVDA) rose Tuesday and approached its 50-day line.
| Ticker | EPS | Sales (bil) |
|---|---|---|
| META | $4.97 | $36.1 |
| GOOGL | $1.61 | $86.3 |
| MSFT | $2.82 | $60.8 |
| TSLA | $0.49 | $22.2 |
Steel Stocks Bend On Earnings
Steel stocks were among earnings movers as well. Nucor (NUE) and Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) fell hard after both steel producers missed estimates. Steel Dynamics (STLD) plans to report after the market close.
All three stocks have fallen below their 50-day moving averages. Cleveland-Cliffs and Steel Dynamics were the worst performers in the IBD MarketSurge Growth 250 on the stock market today.
In aerospace and defense, Heico (HEI) broke out from a flat base with a buy point of 200.64.
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Source: investors.com
