Dow futures rose more than 200 points Friday morning after the Labor Department’s pivotal jobs report for April came out stronger than expected. Bank shares, which had been battered, rebounded sharply in early trade. And apple (AAPLThe stock jumped after a strong quarterly earnings report.
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Nonfarm payrolls rose by 253,000, beating Wall Street’s estimate of an increase of 178,000 vs. 236,000 new hires in March. Average hourly earnings in April rose 0.5% for a 4.4% annual increase, beating estimates for a 0.3% rise of 4.2% year over year. The unemployment rate in April came in at 3.4%, below an estimate of 3.6%.
Late Thursday, iPhone maker Apple beat Wall Street targets for its fiscal second quarter thanks to strong sales in iPhones and services. Apple also raised its quarterly dividend plan and stock repurchase plan. AAPL stock rose nearly 3% in response.
Other key drivers of earnings include Friday morning Mobile home (CVNA), Kings (DKNG), fortinet (FTNT) and the square parent roadblock (mint).
Carvana stock rose 35% after the online used car seller posted an optimistic outlook for the second quarter.
DraftKings reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings and sales results. The company lost 87 cents of its share in sales of $769.6 million. Wall Street expected the company to lose 88 cents per share on sales of $704.3 million per FactSet. DraftKings also raised its revenue guidance for the full year. DKNG shares jumped more than 12% early on Friday.
Fortinet, a leading cybersecurity company, reported first-quarter earnings, revenue and billings that beat analyst estimates. FTNT stock was up less than 1% on Friday morning.
Block reported first-quarter earnings and revenue that topped Wall Street targets. SQ stock was up nearly 4% in morning trade.
Electric car giant Tesla traded up 1% on Friday morning. Tech giants in the Dow Jones Apple and Microsoft (MSFT) were higher before the stock market opened today.
L Research (LRCX), IBD Stock Leaderboard HubSpot (interlocutor), nvidia (NVDA) And Packer (pcr) – as well as Dow Jones shares Nike (to) And visa (Fifth) – among the top stocks to watch in the bullish trend of a struggling stock market.
JPMorgan has appeared in the stock column near the buy zone this week. Nvidia was one of the subjects of IBD inventory for the last day. Nike had a close IBD stock analysis Thursday, while Paccar had a close IBD stock analysis last week.
Dow jones today: oil prices and treasury yields
Before the opening bell on Friday, Dow Jones futures were up 0.6% against fair value, and S&P 500 futures were up 0.8%. The Nasdaq 100 heavy technology futures rose 0.5% in the morning move.
Among the US ETFs, the Nasdaq 100 tracker Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ(up 0.5%, while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF rose)spy) rose 0.6% early on Friday.
The 10-year US Treasury yield was trading as much as 3.45% on Friday, set to end a three-day losing streak. Despite the early gains, the 10-year Treasury yield is on track for another sharp loss this week.
US oil prices rebounded about 3% on Friday morning after a series of heavy losses. WTI futures remain near their lowest level since March, around $70 a barrel – and are still on track to finish sharply for the week.
Stock Market Rising: Prioritize Taking Profits
On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average sold 0.9%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.7%. The Nasdaq Composite Heavy fell 0.5%. All three losing streaks spanned four sessions. Small cap Russell 2000 fell 1.2%, hitting its lowest level since March 24.
The Big Picture column commented Thursday, “Stock market volatility is a major reason to stay on the defensive rather than buy aggressively. This means that new buys should only be on stocks with outstanding fundamentals and technologies, and profit-taking should be a priority in the winners.” No The recommended IBD exposure in equities remains at 20% to 40% of your portfolio.”
Now is an important time to read IBD’s Big Picture column as the stock market is still struggling to sustain its bullish trend.
The five best Dow stocks to buy and watch right now
Dow Jones stock to buy and watch: Nike, Visa
Shares of Nike fell 2.4% Thursday, ending over 127.59 buys for a mug with a handle, according to IBD MarketSmith pattern recognition. NKE stock gained 0.9% early on Friday.
Visa shares closed below 230.15 handle buy points after Thursday’s loss of 0.2%. If the stock re-enters, the buy range will rise to 241.66. V stock rose 0.6% on Friday.
4 top growth stocks to watch in Stock market rise
Best stocks to buy and watch: Nvidia, Paccar
Nvidia shares closed Thursday below 280.10 buy points in a short consolidation after a session drop of 0.9%, according to IBD MarketSmith. NVDA stock was up 0.6% Friday morning.
Backstory: On Monday, Hans Mossmann, a securities analyst at Rosenblatt Securities, identified Nvidia as one of seven semiconductor stocks likely to benefit from increased spending by technology companies around artificial intelligence. Nvidia sells graphics processing units, accelerators, software tools, and other offerings for AI projects.
Paccar slid below the 50-day line on Thursday, down 0.85%. Stocks continue to build a solid base with 76.82 buys, and early entry at 75.83 is also in play, although it continues to drift away from those entries. Paccar shares rose 1% Friday morning.
Backstory: The maker of heavy-duty semi-trucks topped first-quarter estimates on April 25, posting a 96% profit rise. in CES 2022Paccar introduced connected and autonomous vans. The company behind KenworthAnd Peterbilt And daf Three car nameplates were displayed.
HubSpot, L Research
IBD SwingTrader’s Lam Research stock remains close to early entry at 533.19, while forming a flat bottom at 548.95 buy points. LRCX stock was up 1.6% Friday morning.
background storyLAM Research Company supplies wafer manufacturing equipment to: Semiconductor industry. It is one of only three companies involved in drilling and deposition to produce chips. Lam also makes the equipment used in NAND flash memory modules. These account for nearly half of all sales.
Shares of IBD Leaderboard HubSpot rose 7.4% Thursday on strong first-quarter earnings results. The profit gap up offers an alternate entry near 455.68, which is the high of the first 5-minute bar during Thursday’s move. HUBS stock rose 0.7% on Friday morning.
Backstory: This Cambridge, Massachusetts company specializes in helping companies automate their marketing and sales processes. Its cloud-based platform also helps clients with social media, search engine optimization, and website content management. Earnings and sales have grown sharply for most of the past eight quarters. In the first quarter, earnings growth accelerated for the third consecutive quarter, up 122%. Revenue increased by 27% to $501.6 million.
Learn how to time the market with IBD’s ETF market strategy
Best stocks to buy and watch the stock market rise
These are the top four stocks to buy and watch in the stock market today, including three Dow leaders.
| Company Name | Code | The right point of purchase | Point of purchase type |
|---|---|---|---|
| nvidia | (NVDA) | 280.10 | merge |
| Nike | (to) | 127.59 | mug with handle |
| visa | (Fifth) | 230.15 | mug with handle |
| HubSpot | (interlocutor) | 455.68 | earnings gap |
Source: IBD data as of May 4, 2023
Join IBD experts as they analyze the leading stocks of the current stock market rally on IBD Live
Tesla stock
Tesla stock rose Thursday, still trading near its recent lows. In early April, the shares triggered a 7%-8% loss rule from a buy point of 200.76 in a cup with handle. And they are trading sharply below the 50-day line, which is a key level. Thursday, the stock closed 50% off its 52-week high.
TSLA stock appeared to be adding to Thursday’s gains, as it was trading up 1% early on Friday.
Dow Jones Leaders: Earnings Apple, Microsoft
Among Dow Jones stocks, Apple shares lost 1% Thursday, falling for the fourth straight session. It remains strongly above 157.48 buying points, and outside the buying range that reached 165.35. AAPL stock rose 2.7% ahead of Friday after the company’s strong earnings report.
Microsoft shares rose sharply above the 276.86 buy point of the steady base amid tougher measures on Thursday. The buy zone increased by 5% from the buy point to 290.70. MSFT stock hit a 52-week high last week. On Friday morning, MSFT stock was up 0.5%.
Be sure to follow Scott Lehtonen on Twitter at @tweet Learn more about developing stocks and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
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