Solid performances from Boeing (BA), Goldman Sachs (GS) and Verizon (VZ) sparked the Dow Jones industrial average to a 0.6% gain in afternoon trading Tuesday.
X Boeing got a lift on news of a raised dividend and a new $18 billion share-buyback program. Shares rose nearly 3%. Boeing is the top-performing Dow stock this year, up 87% year-to-date.
Verizon, meanwhile, got an upgrade from Instinet to buy. Instinet also raised its price target, to 61 from 47. Shares picked up more than 2%. Verizon is still in buy range from a 51.28 entry. Goldman Sachs is in the early stages of breaking out of a base. The entry could be interpreted either as 247.17 or 247.84.
The S&P 500 added 0.3%, while the Nasdaq composite eased less than 0.1%. Software stocks weighed on the Nasdaq after JPMorgan downgraded several names after solid runs in 2017, including Adobe Systems (ADBE), ServiceNow (NOW) and RingCentral (RNG), among others. Adobe reports earnings Thursday after the close.
Volume on the NYSE and Nasdaq was tracking higher than Monday's levels in the stock market today.
Financials outperformed as the two-day Federal Reserve meeting got underway. A rate hike is widely expected Wednesday when the Fed statement comes out at 2 p.m. ET.
MarketSmith Growth 250 names in the financial sector like Charles Schwab (SCHW), Interactive Brokers (IBKR) and Stifel Financial (SF) did well, with gains of around 2%.
In economic news, producer prices rose more than expected in November, but Wall Street shrugged the data off. The 10-year Treasury yield was recently trading around 2.40%, up 1 basis point.
Separately, small-business optimism is at its highest level since 1983, according the latest reading from the National Federation of Independent Business. The index rose to 107.5 in November, the second-highest reading in its 44-year history.
Inside the IBD 50, PayPal (PYPL) was poised for its fifth gain in six trading sessions, but recent advances have come in light volume after the stock briefly gave up the 50-day line in heavy volume. Shares were up 0.8%.
In the small-cap space, KMG Chemicals (KMG) soared past a 59.50 buy point, rising 13% to 62.34. With a Composite Rating of 96, KMG has a lot going for it from a fundamental and technical perspective. Late Monday, the company reported a 73% surge in quarterly profit. Sales growth accelerated for the second straight quarter, rising 45% to $110.7 million.
RELATED:
Facebook Gets Top Stock Rating For Its Social Media Dominance
SEC Has This Advice For Investors In Bitcoin, Other Cryptocurrencies
