The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 300 points Thursday morning ahead of Fed Chief Jerome Powell's scheduled speeches, as Tesla stock made a big push after reporting strong earnings late Wednesday.
Alcoa, CSX, Lam Research, Nucor and Steel Dynamics were key earnings movers Thursday morning.
Alcoa tumbled 7%, while CSX moved up 8%. Lam rallied more than 2%. Nucor rose 1.5%. Steel Dynamics was up 3%.
Twitter fell nearly 3% after Wednesday's 1.2% gain. And electric-vehicle giant Tesla raced 11% higher Thursday morning, moving closer to its latest entry.
Among the Dow Jones leaders, Apple and Microsoft climbed slightly more than 1% in today's stock market.
Amid the struggling stock market rally, Dow Jones leaders American Express and Caterpillar — along with IBD Leaderboard stock Edwards Lifesciences, Murphy Oil, Raytheon Technologies and Shell — are among Thursday's top stocks to buy and watch.
Microsoft and Tesla are IBD Leaderboard stocks. Caterpillar and Edwards Lifesciences were featured in this week's Stocks Near A Buy Zone column. Edwards was also Monday's IBD Stock Of The Day. And Caterpillar is an IBD SwingTrader stock.
Dow Jones Today: Treasury Yields, Oil Prices, Powell Comments
After Thursday's open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9%, and the S&P 500 gained 1.2%. The Nasdaq climbed 1.7% in morning trade.
Among exchange-traded funds, the Nasdaq 100 tracker Invesco QQQ Trust popped 1.2%. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF ran up 0.9%.
The 10-year Treasury yield ticked up to 2.87% Thursday morning after sliding to 2.84% Wednesday. On Tuesday, the 10-year Treasury yield hit its highest level since December 2018. Meanwhile, U.S. oil prices were up around 1%, as Texas Intermediate crude traded around $103 a barrel.
Fed Chief Powell is scheduled to make two speeches Thursday: the first at 11 a.m. and the next at 1 p.m., both eastern time. Investors will be monitoring those comments for indications of the Fed's upcoming actions at the central bank's policy decision in early May. The Federal Reserve is likely to raise interest rates next month by a half-percentage point and begin shrinking its $9 trillion asset portfolio.
Stock Market Rally
On Wednesday, the stock market finished sharply mixed, as the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite sold off more than 1.2%. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones industrials closed up 0.7%.
Wednesday's The Big Picture column commented, "Meanwhile, a key psychological gauge showed that bearish sentiment has overcome bullishness, at least for now. This is often a contrarian indicator that often signals a rally, but caution is advised due to the current uncertain state of the market."
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 buy points, or develop custom screens at IBD MarketSmith.
Five Dow Jones Stocks To Watch Now
Dow Jones Stocks To Buy And Watch: American Express, Caterpillar
Dow Jones financial stock American Express also is tracing a cup-with-handle base, showing a 194.45 buy point. The stock bullishly regained its 50-day line during this week's solid gain and is about 3% away from the entry. AXP shares were up 1.5% Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, IBD SwingTrader stock Caterpillar is in buy range past a cup-with-handle's 227.15 buy point following last week's breakout move. The 5% buy area goes up to 238.51. A bullish indicator — the stock's RS line is at its highest level since June 2021. Shares were up 1% Thursday.
Four Top Growth Stocks To Buy And Watch In The Current Stock Market Rally
Stocks To Buy And Watch: Edwards, Murphy, Raytheon, Shell
IBD Leaderboard stock Edwards Lifesciences is in buy range above a cup with handle's 125.21 buy point following Wednesday's 3% advance, according to IBD MarketSmith chart analysis. The 5% buy area goes up to 131.47. EW shares rose 1% Thursday morning.
Murphy Oil remains just above an ascending base's 43.30 buy point after Wednesday's 0.7% gain. MUR stock boasts a perfect 99 IBD Composite Rating, per the IBD Stock Checkup. Shares were up 1.25% early Thursday.
Defense contractor Raytheon Technologies finished just above a flat base's 104.44 buy point after shares inched higher Wednesday. RTX shares rallied almost 1% Thursday morning.
Oil-and-gas producer Shell, the April 1 IBD Stock Of The Day, is squarely in a buy range above a flat base's 56.23 buy point after Wednesday's 0.4% drop. The 5% buy area goes up to 59.04. SHEL shares eased lower Thursday morning.
Join IBD experts as they analyze leading stocks in the current stock market rally on IBD Live
Tesla Earnings
Tesla earnings beat Wall Street's estimates late Wednesday. The company's per-share earnings jumped 246% to $3.22 with sales up 81% to $18.76 billion. Tesla stock leapt more than 11% Thursday morning, following Wednesday's 5% sell-off.
Shares of Tesla finished Wednesday about 15% away from a cup-with-handle's 1,152.97 buy point. The stock traded as high as 1,243.49 on Nov. 4. and ended Wednesday about 21% away from that all-time high.
Dow Jones Leaders: Apple, Microsoft
Among Dow Jones stocks, Apple shares triggered the 7%-8% loss-cutting rule from a 176.75 buy point in a double-bottom base last week. Meanwhile, a handle buy point is the latest entry to watch at 179.71. The stock rose 1.2% Thursday morning.
Software leader Microsoft rose 0.4% Wednesday, but remains sharply below its 50-and 200-day lines. The stock is around 20% off its 52-week high. MSFT shares were up 1.1% early Thursday.
Be sure to follow Scott Lehtonen on Twitter at @IBD_SLehtonen for more on growth stocks and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
