The Dow Jones Industrial Average continued to march higher Thursday, piling on 470 points in early afternoon trades and climbing for the fourth straight session. Other major indexes made similar moves as unemployment claims came in higher than expected and yields eased.
Initial unemployment claims rose to 217,000 for the week ended Oct. 28, from 210,000 in the prior week. Wall Street expected claims to come in at 213,000, according to Econoday. October's payroll report is due on Friday.
Meanwhile, factory orders rose 2.8% in September after August's revised 1%. Also fueling the rally was the decision late Wednesday by the Federal Reserve to hold rates steady for the second consecutive meeting.
On Wednesday, Fed Chief Jerome Powell left rates unchanged in a dovish move. According to the CME FedWatchTool, a rate cut may occur as soon as June. Traders see a 41.6% chance of a rate cut to 5%-5.25% at the Fed's June meeting.
Dow Jones Stocks
The Dow's move equated to a 1.4% gain on the stock market today. The S&P 500 rose 1.7%, as the Nasdaq composite added 1.6% in recent action. Small caps also joined the party as the Russell 2000 surged 1.9%.
The tech-dominated Nasdaq staged a follow-through day Wednesday amid a rally attempt that started Friday. It's now working on its fifth straight up session. Like the Dow, the S&P is on its fourth straight day of gains.
Volume was higher on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq compared with the same time on Wednesday. Breadth was encouraging as advancers led.
Elsewhere, the Innovator IBD 50 exchange traded fund lagged and fell 0.3%. And the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note eased 13 basis points to 4.65%, boosting homebuilder stocks.
Among Dow Jones stocks, Apple rose 2% and retook its 50-day moving average amid five straight days of gains. Apple reports after the market close.
Disney rose more than 2% and is attempting to retake the 50-day line. Reports say Disney plans to buy Comcast's 33% stake in Hulu for $8.6 billion.
Stocks Moving Today
Shares of Palantir added to gains after gapping up nearly 18% as third-quarter sales and earnings topped views. The artificial intelligence play reported earnings of 7 cents per share. That beat analyst views for 6 cents while sales of $558 million were higher by $2 million.
Strong demand for AI infrastructure helped Super Micro Computer raise its 2024 outlook. But the stock has reversed and fallen below the 50-day line.
Tesla rose on Thursday and approached the 200-day moving average. China sales were nearly flat at 72,115 in October from the prior year. But the company started selling its revamped Model 3 last week. China vehicle deliveries have lagged so far in the fourth quarter, going by insurance registrations.
Also among AI stocks, Dynatrace pared gains after the company reported second-quarter results. Earnings of 31 cents a share came in 41% higher than the year-earlier quarter, while sales grew 26%.
Late Wednesday, Qualcomm, Roku, PayPal and Airbnb reported. ABNB fell on its weak holiday travel outlook. PayPal's earnings came in above views. QCOM stock rose more than 5% after a beat-and-raise report.
And Roku skyrocketed more than 30% after reporting a bigger gain in users than expected in the third quarter, driving a top-line beat. Roku cleared all its moving averages in the process.
Shopify reversed from losses a year ago and announced earnings of 24 cents per share on sales of $1.7 billion. Shares gapped up above the 50-day.
Weight-Loss Drug Stocks Rise On Earnings
Outside the Dow Jones index, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly held some gains as earnings got a boost from demand for the duo's weight-loss drugs. In October, Novo raised its sales and profit outlook for 2023. LLY is on the IBD Leaderboard. NVO is an IBD 50 stock. Eli Lilly is also the IBD Stock Of The Day.
Also on the IBD 50, D.R. Horton gapped up from its 50-day line, while other homebuilder stocks gained. Toll Brothers and Lennar gapped up above the 50-day line. The SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF pushed well above its 200-day moving average.
Cummins pulled back after an early gain and fell after reporting that third-quarter sales rose 15%. The company raised its full-year outlook to a gain of 19% at the midpoint.
Please follow VRamakrishnan on X/Twitter for more news on the stock market today.
