Major stock market indexes closed down Wednesday, except for Dow megacaps. Indexes couldn't get back to the highs of the day. Investors felt anxious about a possible recession and that showed up in the indexes.
The Dow Jones closed 0.2% higher. The Nasdaq shed 1.1% while the S&P 500 edged down 0.3%. The iShares Russell 2000 ETF led the downside, pulling back 1%.
NYSE volume fell while Nasdaq volume rose compared with the same time on Tuesday, in preliminary numbers.
The Nasdaq 100-tracking Invesco QQQ Trust ETF fell 1%. The growth-stock Innovator IBD 50 ETF fared worse than the major averages, tanking 1.9%.
Crude oil edged 0.4% lower to $80.38 per barrel. Bitcoin shed 0.6% to $28,200. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield ceded 5 basis points to 3.29%.
Gold futures hit a 2023 high of $2,049 before settling at $2,038. The SPDR Gold Trust ETF inched lower 0.1%.
The CME FedWatch tool shows over 40% odds for a quarter-point rate hike at the May 3 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.
European stocks closed mixed, with the German DAX pulling back 0.5% and the Paris CAC shedding 0.4%. The London FTSE shined, gaining 0.4% to close out the trading day.
Stock Market Today: Health Care Stocks Lead The Dow
Dow component Johnson & Johnson gapped up 4.5% in heavy volume, on news it will settle ongoing litigation over its talc-based baby powders.
The health care giant agreed to pay $8.9 billion over 25 years to 60,000 claimants who allege talc in baby powder caused their cancers. JNJ was the biggest gainer in the Dow today.
Fellow Dow stock United Healthcare popped 3.2% after Raymond James upgraded the stock to a strong buy rating, from outperform, and raised the price target to 630 from 615.
HCA Healthcare rose 1.5% and broke out of a long cup-with-handle base, hitting the 269.19 buy point. Shares are in the 5% buy zone, reaching to 282.65.
The relative strength line for HCA stock hit a 52-week high, as indicated by the blue dot, according to MarketSmith pattern recognition. HCA operates 182 hospitals and over 2,300 health care centers in the U.S. and U.K.
Footwear Stock Tumbles On Downgrade
Swiss footwear maker On gapped down 9.7% in Wednesday's stock market after Baird downgraded the stock to neutral from outperform, with a price target of 33.
Nvidia gapped down 2.1% after Google-parent Alphabet alleged chips used in its AI training are faster and use less power than Nvidia's chips.
Shares of GOOGL dipped 0.2%.
Shipper FedEx gained 1.5% in heavy volume, on news it will consolidate its operations and raise its quarterly dividend 10%.
Shares are above the 5% buy zone of a flat base with a 217.48 buy point.
MarketAxess plummeted 13.9% after reporting Q1 volume statistics and transaction fees. The fintech company operates an electronic fixed income products trading platform.
Simply Good Foods plunged 4.8%, despite reporting a beat on its November-ended quarter top and bottom lines, after reporting declining gross profits.
Shares plunged below the 50-day line and triggered the 7% to 8% sell signal from the 40.26 buy point.
Follow Kimberley Koenig for more stock news on Twitter @IBD_KKoenig.
