Dow Jones futures aim to kick off a new market surge this Thursday morning, with the closely tracked index gaining ground as markets digest the recent Labor Department’s initial unemployment claims. The media giant Disney (DIS) is leading the group, surging on strong earnings results. Up next on the agenda, Fed Chair Jerome Powell will be speaking at 2 p.m. Et.
First-time unemployment claims remained stable at 217,000, when compared to the previous week’s 217,000, and was expected to increase to 220,000. Later in the day, Fed chief Powell will speak at an IMF Annual Research Conference in Washington to discuss monetary policy challenges in the global economy.
Disney exceeded earnings forecasts on Wednesday and also raised its ambitious cost restructuring targets. The Dow Jones media giant reported adjusted earnings of 82 cents per share, showing a 173% increase from 30 cents per share last year, while revenue climbed 5% to $21.24 billion. DIS stock jumped 4% in premarket trade.
In early Thursday trading, notable earnings movers included ARM (ARM), Duolingo (DUOL), HubSpot (HUBS), Instacart (CART), Li Auto (LI), Lyft (LYFT), TransDigm (TDG), Twilio (TWLO), and Yeti (YETI).
Dow Jones Today: Oil Prices, Treasury Yields
Ahead of Thursday’s opening bell, Dow Jones futures rose 0.3%, while S&P 500 futures moved up 0.25%. Tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.1% in the morning.
Among U.S. exchange-traded funds, the Nasdaq 100 tracker Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) slightly went higher, while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) moved up 0.25% early Thursday. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond ticked higher to 4.54%.
On Wednesday, the benchmark settled at 4.52%, closing at its lowest level since late September. Oil prices rebounded modestly from their recent losses, as West Texas Intermediate futures gained 0.7%, still trading below $76 a barrel and at its lowest level since late July.
In the previous day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended a seven-day winning streak and fell 0.1%, while the S&P 500 stretched its rally to eight days and gained 0.1%. The Nasdaq also inched higher for a ninth-straight gain.
Amazon (AMZN), DraftKings (DKNG), MercadoLibre (MELI), and Uber Technologies (UBER) — as well as Dow Jones stocks Intel (INTC), Walmart (WMT), and UnitedHealth (UNH) — belong to the best stocks to keep an eye on in today’s market rally.
Chip giant Intel is in a buy range past a 37.22 buy point, while Dow Jones retail titan Walmart gave up its 165.85 buy point. Health care giant UnitedHealth added a handle to consolidation, and showing a new buy point at 546.78.
Amazon made a move back above its 50-day line last week and is within striking distance of a cup base’s 145.86 buy point. DraftKings surged above the 50-day line last week, and skated past two entries along the way. MercadoLibre rallied sharply as well, moving up the right side of a cup base with a 1,451.56 buy point, and Uber remains above a buy trigger at 49.19.
Tesla traded down 1% early Thursday, while Meta Platforms (META) and Nvidia (NVDA) rose 0.1% and 0.8%, respectively. Meta stock regained its 50-day line last week, still looking to forge a new entry after a recent failed breakout, while graphics-chip giant Nvidia rebounded another 1.35% Wednesday, extending a win streak to six sessions and is forming a double bottom that has a 476.09 entry.
Apple rallied 0.6% Wednesday, taking out an early entry at 182.34, and continues to trace a consolidation that has a 198.23 buy point, while Microsoft stock rallied for a ninth-straight session.
Be sure to follow IBD for analysis and insights on leading stocks in the current stock market rally.
(source: Investors Business Daily)
