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Stocks Slip Into A Red Finish As RV Makers Break Camp, Data Storage Soars

Leading indexes booked their third decline in four sessions Tuesday as stocks continued to consolidate below the market's March 1 high.

The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 0.2%. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 each took looses of 0.3%.  Small caps continued to outpace the general market's decline, with the Russell 2000 ending off 0.6%.

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The Nasdaq and the Dow industrials made a brief, late-morning foray into positive territory as Apple (AAPL) reversed sharply out of its early losses. But the Dow did not touch 21,000 and both it and the Nasdaq quickly returned to narrow losses. Apple ended up 0.1%.

Preliminary data showed volume climbing on the Nasdaq and the NYSE exchanges relative to end-of-day trade on Monday.

Economic news appeared to have little impact on the stock market today, although the Federal Reserve's January consumer credit estimate showed credit borrowing contracted sharply during the month.  January trade data from the Commerce Department showed the deficit widening to $8.5 billion, in line with expectations.

Market Movers: Nimble, Thor, Verizon, Humana

Data Storage led the roster of industry groups, bolstered by Nimble Storage's (NMBL) 45% gain, following news that Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) would acquire the company for $1 billion. Some other small plays in the group rose, possibly on takeover speculation: Pure Storage (PSTG) jumped 11%. Qualstar (QBAK) rocketed 14% higher. Shares of HPE ended effectively flat.

The video game developer and cable satellite industries also marked up strong sessions.

The recreational vehicle makers group dropped hard as Thor Industries (THO) dived 10% in powerful trade as investors took profits after the company reported a broadly solid fiscal second quarter. A 27% rise in earnings and a 63% revenue surge beat analyst expectations and validated management's strategy and execution of its $576 million acquisition of Jayco last year.

Thor's decline broke below support at its 50-day moving average in heavy trade, and it reversed all gains from a 106.43 buy point. Both moves are sell signals.

Other RV makers and suppliers also felt the undertow, with Winnebago (WGO), Patrick Industries (PATK) and Rev Group (REVG) all down more than 5%. LCI Industries (LCII) fell nearly 2%.

Verizon Communications (VZ) dropped 1.2%, the only Dow stock to hit the 1% mark. Aerospace and defense contractor giant Boeing (BA) led the index with a 0.6% gain.

Humana (HUM) led the S&P 500, up more than 2% in what may or may not have been reaction to the GOP health care proposal released late Monday. Among hospital stocks, Tenet Healthcare (THC) dropped more than 7%, apparently in reaction to the plan, while peers Universal Health Services (UHS) shed 2% and HCA Holdings (HCA) dipped 1.3%.

Earnings season is winding down, but quarterly results are expected from Urban Outfitters (URBN), H&R Block (HRB) and others after the close.

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