The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped Friday following Thursday's stock market gains. Treasury yields continue to hold near their highest levels since July 2019, while U.S. oil prices rallied near $103 a barrel Friday. Friday's session is a triple witching day, which is when multiple options and futures contracts expire simultaneously.
Ahead of Friday's open, FedEx dropped 3% after the company's earnings miss. Dow Jones health care giant UnitedHealth, Costco and GlobalFoundries are among the top stocks to buy and watch in the current stock market rally. Meanwhile, Tesla stock reclaimed its 200-day line Thursday.
Among the Dow Jones leaders, Apple slipped 0.2% and Microsoft moved down 0.4 in today's stock market. UnitedHealth, a Dow Jones stock to watch, finished Thursday in buy range.
Electric-vehicle leader Tesla inched lower early Friday, threatening to give back a part of Thursday's strong gains.
Amid the volatile, headline-driven market, Costco, GlobalFoundries, O'Reilly Automotive, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Vertex Pharmaceuticals are among Friday's top stocks to buy and watch.
Microsoft, Tesla and Vertex are IBD Leaderboard stocks. O'Reilly was Tuesday's IBD 50 Stocks To Watch pick. And Costco and Regeneron were featured in this week's Stocks Near A Buy Zone column.
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Dow Jones Today: Treasury Yields, Oil Prices
After Friday's market open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.3% and the S&P 500 dropped 0.35%. The Nasdaq declined 0.45% in morning trade.
Among exchange-traded funds, the Nasdaq 100 tracker Invesco QQQ Trust fell 0.4%, and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF moved down 0.35% after Friday's open.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield ticked down to 2.14% Friday morning after ending Thursday at 2.19%. U.S. oil prices extended their gains Friday morning, with West Texas Intermediate crude trading near $103 a barrel.
President Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping plan a 9 a.m. phone call Friday to discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On Thursday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Mr. Biden "will make clear that China will bear responsibility for any actions it takes to support Russia's aggression, and we will not hesitate to impose costs."
Stock Market Rally
The stock market reversed from early losses Thursday to log another day of strong gains — bullish action in the immediate aftermath of Wednesday's powerful advance. Following this week's gains, now is an important time to read and follow IBD's The Big Picture column.
Thursday's The Big Picture column commented, "Following Wednesday's follow-through day on the S&P 500, investors have the green light to raise exposure by buying top stocks breaking out past proper buy points. Use the watchlist you curated during the stock market correction. Or you can also find stock ideas by monitoring IBD's proprietary watchlists, like the IBD 50 and the IBD Big Cap 20."
If you're new to IBD, consider taking a look at its stock trading system and CAN SLIM basics. Recognizing chart patterns is one key to the investment guidelines. IBD offers a broad range of growth stock lists, such as Leaderboard and SwingTrader.
Investors also can create watchlists, find companies nearing a buy point, or develop custom screens at IBD MarketSmith.
Four Dow Jones Stocks To Watch Now
Dow Jones Stocks To Watch: UnitedHealth
Managed care giant UnitedHealth shows a 500.10 buy point with a handle entry on a double-bottom base. Shares ended Thursday just below the entry after a 1.8% gain. UNH shares were up 0.1% early Friday. UNH was Monday's IBD Stock Of The Day.
Bullishly, the stock's relative strength line is near new highs, indicating significant stock market outperformance.
Four Top Growth Stocks To Watch In The Current Stock Market Rally
Stocks To Buy And Watch: Costco, GlobalFoundries, O'Reilly, Regeneron, Vertex
Costco stock is in buy range past a 545.39 buy point in a cup-with-handle base, according to IBD MarketSmith charts. Costco shares lost 0.1% early Friday.
IPO Leader GlobalFoundries is trying to break out past a cup base's 73.35 buy point. Shares briefly exceeded the entry Thursday, but closed below it. GlobalFoundries shares inched higher Friday morning.
Tuesday's IBD 50 Stocks To Watch pick, O'Reilly Automotive, is above a 687.33 buy point in a cup with handle. Shares tacked on 0.1% Thursday and are in the 5% buy area, which tops out at 721.70. ORLY shares almost 1% early Friday.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals decisively cleared an early entry at 645.10 during Monday's session. Meanwhile, the stock broke out past a 673.96 buy point in a flat base on Wednesday and is still in buy range. REGN shares were down 0.3% Friday. Regeneron is in this week's New America column.
IBD Leaderboard stock Vertex Pharmaceuticals is tracing a flat base with a 255.03 buy point. Per Leaderboard analysis, Vertex Pharmaceuticals was boosted to a half position from a quarter on a solid bounce off the 50-day line in recent sessions. VRTX shares were down 1% early Friday.
Join IBD experts as they analyze leading stocks in the current stock market rally on IBD Live
Tesla Stock
Tesla stock inched lower early Friday, threatening to snap a three-day win streak. Shares regained their long-term 200-day moving average on Thursday, however volume on the move was weak. Still, the retaking of support could mark the early stages of a possible climb up the right side of a new base.
The stock traded as high as 1,243.49 on Nov. 4, but ended Thursday about 30% off that all-time high.
Dow Jones Leaders: Apple, Microsoft
Among Dow Jones stocks, Apple shares advanced 0.65% Thursday, extending a win streak to three sessions. The stock moved further back above its long-term 200-day line, but remains 3.7% below its 50-day moving average. AAPL shares lost 0.2% early Friday.
Software leader Microsoft added 0.3% Thursday, but shares are still below the 200-day line. Microsoft fell 0.4 Friday morning.
Be sure to follow Scott Lehtonen on Twitter at @IBD_SLehtonen for more on growth stocks and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
