Stocks churned in place at Thursday's open, holding tight to their starting points despite an unexpectedly strong reading on Philadelphia-region manufacturing.
X The Dow Jones industrial average toggled between narrow gains and losses, the S&P 500 dipped to a fractional decline and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.3% as Apple (AAPL) dived 1.2% and fall four FANG stocks traded lower.
Travelers Paces Dow; Corcept Leads, Nvidia Lags Among IBD 50 Names
Insurer Travelers swung up 0.6% to an opening lead among Dow industrials.
Apple was the Dow's worst performer, down 1.2%, with early news reports discussing connectivity problems with the Apple Watch devices and possible production delays related to the newly minted iPhone X. The stock is back below its 156.75 buy point and in a struggle to hold support at its 10-week moving average.
Early FANG stock action showed Netflix (NFLX) trading flat after Buckingham launched coverage of the stock with a buy rating and a 214 price target. Netflix, an IBD Leaderboad name, is hovering below a flat base buy point of 191.60.
Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) dipped 0.3% after Google announced a $1 billion deal with Taiwanese handset maker HTC that will bring a portion of HTC's workforce onto Google's employee roster. Alphabet has been in a shallow basing pattern, attempting to recover above its 10-week moving average since late July.
Pittsburgh-based Calgon Carbon (CCC) fired off a 62% opening gain. Japanese chemical maker Kuraray said it would pay $1.1 billion to acquire the maker of carbon-activated filtration systems.
Cement maker CRH (CRH) rumbled ahead more than 2% in early action, after announcing it would pay $3.5 billion to acquire Ash Grove Cement, in Overland Park, Kansas. Ash Grove owns eight cement plants across the U.S. and operates extensive ready-mix assets in the Midwest. CRH is climbing the right side of a four-month basing pattern.
Among IBD 50 stocks, motorhome maker Winnebago (WGO) jumped almost 2%. The stock opened just above buy range beyond a 37.30 buy point in a flat base.
Graphics chip innovator Nvidia (NVDA) dropped nearly 3%, taking the biggest loss among both IBD 50, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 stocks. The stock broke out past a 174.66 buy point on Friday, ending Wednesday just out of buy range above that entry.
Anadarko Petroleum (APC) led the S&P 500, up 5% at the open. Based in The company's board approved a $2.5 billion share repurchase program to run through the end of 2018. The oil producer has eight straight gains under its belt, recovering to above its 50-day line of support Wednesday, but still 40% below its December high.
Unemployment Claims Down; Philly Fed Index Jumps
In economic news, oil prices slipped more than 1%, leaving U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate holding just above $50 a barrel. Oil had jumped 2% on Wednesday, but is up less than 0.5% so far for the week.
First-time unemployment claims dipped to 259,000 in the week ended Sept. 16, the Labor Department reported. That was down from a revised estimate of 282,000 claims in the prior week, and far below expectations for an increase to 303,000 new applications.
Manufacturing activity jumped in the mid-Atlantic region in September, with the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey surging to 23.8 for the month, up from 18.9 in August and blowing away consensus forecasts for another dip, to 18. Firms surveyed reported improvements across a broad spectrum of categories, including new orders, shipments and employment, but also said price increases had become more widespread, with the portion of firms reporting increased inputs costs rising to 38%, up from 24% in August.
The July Housing Price Index from the Federal Housing Finance Agency is scheduled for a 9 a.m. ET release.
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