Major stock indexes held solid gains Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.7% at the noon hour. Intel, Home Depot led the upside.
Donald Trump SPAC Digital World Acquisition jumped 6% in early trading after the former president was indicted Thursday on charges of hush money payments to a porn star during his 2016 presidential run.
Several top-rated growth stocks made big gains, including software stocks like PagerDuty and DigitalOcean. Monster Beverage also scored a breakout.
Sentiment was positive in the stock market today after Wall Street got good news on the inflation front in the latest Personal Income and Spending report.
The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index rose 0.3% in February, a little below the 0.4% consensus. Prices rose 5% year over year, better than the 5.1% consensus. Core prices also cooled slightly but remain well above the Federal Reserve's 2% target.
For now, futures traders are leaning slightly toward another 25-basis-point hike at the May meeting, which would raise the federal funds rate to a range of 5% to 5.25%. For the June meeting, there's a 50/50 chance that rates stay at 5% to 5.25%, or go back down to 4.75% to 5%.
After a post-earnings rally Wednesday, Micron Technology fell more than 3% on reports that China's cyberspace regulator is reviewing the memory-chip maker's products in that nation.
Dow Jones Today
The Dow Jones is rising near its 50-day moving average after getting turned away at resistance in early March. It's a major level to watch because, with the stock market in a confirmed uptrend, the blue-chip index could easily punch right through it.
Join IBD experts as they analyze leading stocks in the current stock market rally on IBD Live
Boeing stock edged higher in the Dow Jones, after news that Taiwan's EVA Air ordered five more 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
Walmart continued its furious rally off lows as the retailer approaches its Feb. 21 high. Home Depot also outperformed, but HD stock remains in a downtrend and below all key moving averages.
Outside of the Dow Jones, Netflix continued its climb, lifting above the 50-day moving average Thursday after a report it may move into TV gaming. Late Thursday, the streamer announced the departure of two longtime creative executives and said it will make fewer movies each year to contain costs.
Beaten-down bank stocks Comerica and Zions Bancorp lagged again in the S&P 500, which was up 0.8%. Breadth was solid on the NYSE, with winners beating losers by just over 6-to-1.
Nasdaq Rises Above 12,000
After two straight higher-volume gains for the Nasdaq composite and a close above the 12,000 level Thursday, the index was near its session high, up 1%, bringing its weekly gain to 2.6%. Advancing stocks outnumbered decliners by nearly 3-to-1.
Watch for the indexes to post higher-volume gains and lower-volume declines in coming days. This progressive pattern would bode well for the nascent uptrend. On the flip side, if distribution days or higher-volume declines start to crop up, the market could head into another rally failure.
See Which Stocks Are In The Leaderboard portfolio
The Dow Jones and Russell 2000 are laggard indexes at this point, although small caps outperformed Friday morning. The iShares Russell 2000 ETF led the way, up 1.8%.
Growth Stocks On The Move
Price action of top-rated growth stocks has improved, yielding follow-through days for the Nasdaq composite and S&P 500 on Wednesday. Chip stock Rambus joined the Leaderboard Wednesday when it surged in higher volume. The stock showed good follow-through Thursday, rising another 5.9%. Same with Skyline Champion, which has been on a tear all week.
Inside the IBD 50, Crocs moved bullishly again after the stock jumped above its 50-day moving average Thursday.
The MarketSmith Growth 250 delivered some strong gainers, including Elf Beauty and Leaderboard stock MercadoLibre.
ELF stock is quite extended after a lengthy run-up, but MELI stock is still in a buy zone after clearing an alternate 1,273.96 handle entry.
Axon Enterprise was another top gainer, up 4.5% to an all-time high.
Follow Ken Shreve on Twitter @IBD_KShreve for more stock market analysis and insight.
