The Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Indexes all fell on continued tight moves, resulting in a flat week for stock market gains. Investors are waiting for a flood of headline earnings such as: microsoft (MSFTMore), Amazon.co.jp[ticker symb=AMZN], meta platform (meta) and Google’s parent alphabet (Google).
X
Dow Jones futures open Sunday night, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures.
Opportunities to buy were scarce and often failed. Earnings season is in full swing next week, offering the potential for the market rally to emerge from its rut.
Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Google are especially important. Microsoft and, arguably, Amazon’s stocks are now viable. Google shares are nearing a buying point while Facebook’s parent company Meta pulls back after a big deal.
That alone has a big impact on the leading index. And their comments on future growth in key markets such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence, e-commerce, and PCs will have a significant impact beyond just the technology sector.
in the meantime, first solar (FSLR), Dexcom (DXCM), mobile eye (MBLY), boeing (Bachelor), Service Now (now), cloudflare (Net), prepare the technology (ALGN), Fair Isaac (FICO), visa (Ⅴ) and Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) are just a few of the companies to watch, with shares reported to be in or near the buy zone this week.
MBLY stock in particular has had an action-packed week, with the IPO lockup expiring on Monday and earnings continuing on Wednesday.
In the meantime, keep an eye on the weekend news shock wave medical (SWAV). Reports that SWAV stocks soared on Friday Boston Scientific (BSX) is considering a Shockwave takeover bid. However, the company said nothing.
Video review embedded in this article Arista Networks (ANET), TJX Co., Ltd. (TJXMore) and JP Morgan Chase (JPM).
Microsoft shares belong to the IBD long-term leaders.
dow jones futures today
Dow Jones futures open Sunday at 6:00 pm ET, along with S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures.
Note that overnight trading on Dow futures or elsewhere does not necessarily lead to actual trading at the next regular stock market session.
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stock market rally
Last week’s stock market rally wasn’t very directional.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2% in last week’s stock market trading. The S&P 500 Index fell 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.4%. Small-cap Russell 2000 rose 0.6% on him.
The 10-year Treasury yield rose 5 basis points to 3.57%.
US crude futures fell 5.5% last week to $77.87 a barrel.
ETFs
Innovator IBD50ETF (FFTY) rose 2.7% last week, the Innovators IBD Breakout Opportunities ETF (game) 0.4% immersion. iShares Expanded Tech Software Sector ETF (IGV) fell 0.1%, with MSFT shares becoming the leading holding. VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH) fell 1.5%.
Reflecting more speculative story stocks, the ARK Innovation ETF (arc) fell 3% last week, while the ARK Genomics ETF (ARKG) increased by 1%.
SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF (XME) fell 4.2% last week. Global X US Infrastructure Development ETF (pave) increased by 0.55%. US Global Jets ETF (jet) increased by 1.8%. SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB) rose 3.4%. Energy Select SPDR ETF (XLE) fell 2.6% while The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) fell 0.2% after five weekly gains.
Financial Select SPDR ETF (XLF) is up 1%, with JPM shares as a major holding. SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (Kure) rose 1.5%, but there is still a long way to go to recover.
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Market rally analysis
Equity market gains continue to level off, with major indices falling slightly. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index have virtually his 4-week tight pattern. Nasdaq tested support at the 21-day line and the 12,000 level later in the week.
More broadly, the major indices remain in the range between their early 2023 highs and their 50-day moving averages.
Market breadth remains lackluster, especially on the Nasdaq. It doesn’t fall apart, but it doesn’t improve much.
Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP) rose modestly over the past week, firmly holding its 50-day line.
Homebuilders are looking strong, with more to report this week. It also leads medical product companies such as Boston Scientific and his SWAV.
Chip stocks have been down for a month, with the SMH ETF closing just below the 50-day line on Friday. While this may have been a healthy pause, it has been difficult for chip investors. Other tech hardware names struggled last week due to IT spending concerns.
Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta provide insight into broader IT spending plans. For major suppliers such as Arista Networks, their own spending plans and growth prospects are important.
At some point, the market rally will break out of its recent range, for better or worse. Earnings season in the coming weeks, along with key economic data and the Federal Reserve’s meeting in early May, could be the catalyst for a decisive rally or selloff. Alternatively, it may provide a number of mixed signals that add volatility to range bound markets.
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what to do now
The market rally hasn’t done anything wrong, but it’s not doing anything special at the moment.
Sideways moves and short-term uptrends, along with sector rotations, are not the best conditions to buy stocks, especially in traditional breakouts. There is a good chance it will fall again.
In all honesty, it’s probably a positive that the market rally and major stocks didn’t surge just before Microsoft, Google, and hundreds of other earnings hits.
With earnings season now in full swing, it’s important to know not only which holdings are delivering immediate results, but which competitors, suppliers and customers are reporting.
If the market responds well to returns, many buying opportunities are possible. Still, investors should gradually increase their exposure. The risk that a particular stock or the broader market will return profits may remain high.
But be prepared to jump on the early entries. Keep your watchlist up to date. Track a large list of stocks that are performing or setting well and focus specifically on stocks that are very close to the buy point.
Read The Big Picture daily to understand the market direction and key stocks and sectors.
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