The Nasdaq briefly reversed higher and traded slightly positive in early-afternoon trading on Thursday after an eye-watering decline of 4.6% on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also traded off lows but remains negative. At around 1:45 pm ET, the Nasdaq lost its gains to fall 0.3%.
These Retail Stocks Outside Nasdaq Are Surviving
It's been a difficult week for retail stocks after several leaders like Target reported earnings that suggested inflation is hurting consumers' ability to spend money.
Two of the worst performers, Target and Dollar Tree, are down 30% and 15%, respectively, for the week.
But two retailers, Kohl's and BJ's Wholesale Club, traded higher on Thursday due to better earnings.
Kohl's guided higher for the current fiscal year, causing shares to climb 4%. The chain reported first-quarter adjusted earnings of 11 cents a share on Thursday, missing analysts' forecasts of 69 cents a share on $3.6 billion in revenue.
Same-store sales in the quarter fell 5.2%, missing analysts' expectations for positive growth of 0.5% year over year.
Elsewhere, BJ's jumped over 9% after the company reported earnings and sales that beat analysts' estimates.
BJ's reported earnings of 87 cents a share, up 21% vs. a year ago, on sales of $4.5 billion, up 16%. Analysts had expected earnings of 72 cents a share on sales of $4.24 billion. The stock recovered much of its losses from Wednesday's big retail sell-off that was triggered by Target's earnings.
Dow Jones Today
U.S. jobless claims, which came in worse than expected, were also affecting markets on Thursday. Jobless claims rose to 218,000 last week from a revised 197,000 the previous week. Economists had expected claims to stay at 197,000, according to Econoday.
In other economic news, existing-home sales fell 2.4% in April to a 5.61 million annualized rate, from a revised 5.75 million annualized in March. Existing-home sales in April fell 5.9% from April 2021. Both numbers add to the drop in housing starts and housing permits as reported on Wednesday.
On Thursday, the Dow Jones industrials traded down 0.8%. The S&P 500 lost 0.5%.
Meanwhile, the small-cap Russell 2000 held a 0.5% gain, leading on the upside. The Nasdaq gained 0.1%. According to IBD data, volume was running higher on the Nasdaq and on the NYSE vs. the same time on Wednesday.
Weakest In The S&P 500
The 11 S&P 500 sectors traded mostly lower, with only materials and real estate up modestly, around 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively. Consumer staples stocks got hit the hardest, down 2% on top of Wednesday's 6.4% loss. Meanwhile, the S&P Retail ETF brightened slightly, with a 0.6% gain on Thursday after Wednesday's 8% drop.
The Innovator IBD 50 ETF, a benchmark for growth stocks, rose 0.2% as it regained a very small portion of Wednesday's losses.
While this market is very volatile and not ideal for new buys, one stock appeared on IBD's MarketSmith Growth 250 screen for breakouts. Utilities stock NRG Energy rose 1% and traded above a 46.20 buy point in decent volume. Shares have been posting powerful gains in strong volume over the past several days, which is a good sign. Also the RS line reached a new high on the weekly chart.
Follow Rachel Fox on Twitter at @IBD_RFox for more Nasdaq and stock market commentary.
