April Webinar RegistrationApril Webinar Registration


Stock Market Defends Most Of Prior Day's Gains; This Sector Is Emerging

The stock market couldn't hold afternoon gains and closed modestly lower Thursday, but it did nothing to diminish the week's bullish indications.

X

Indexes started off lower on Wall Street. They erased losses in afternoon trading on the stock market today but faded in the final hour. Still, they closed well off session lows, defending most of the prior day's big gains.

Stocks started climbing after the minutes of the Fed's November meeting came out at 2 p.m. ET. Fed officials seemed to support the policy that, as Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday, interest rates are "just below" a normal level.

The Nasdaq composite and S&P 500 eased 0.2% while the Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.1%. The Nasdaq 100 — which stores the 100 largest nonfinancial companies in the Nasdaq — lagged a bit: Its tracking Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ) fell 0.3%.

Volume fell from Wednesday's totals in the stock market today, according to preliminary data. Declining stocks led advancers by small margins on the NYSE and Nasdaq.

On Wednesday, the Nasdaq made a follow-through bottoming signal as it soared nearly 3% in higher volume. It was a good indication that a weeklong rebound is sticking and could lead to larger index gains.

Health Care Sector Worth Watching

One of the stock market's challenges is a relative shortage of leading stocks forming sound bases. Health care is one sector where some leadership is emerging.

PRA Health Sciences (PRAH), which was the IBD Stock of the Day Nov. 16, broke out of an irregular base in big volume. Abbott Labs (ABT), Henry Schein (HSIC) and Eli Lilly (LLY) topped buy points, but volume was weak in all three cases.

Leading stocks outperformed the general market, a positive sign for the fledgling uptrend. The Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) climbed 0.8%.

Software and cloud computing leaders Atlassian (TEAM), Trade Desk (TTD) and CyberArk (CYBR) jumped 1.5% to 4%. Veeva Systems (VEEV) was volatile after the company beat profit expectations late Wednesday. But the medical software provider found its footing and closed 1.3% higher, in buy range of a 98.38 buy point.

There was finally some relief for the beleaguered energy sector after the price of U.S. crude oil rose more than 2% to $51.41 a barrel. Reports said Russia is leaning to joining OPEC in a production cut. Exploration & production, pipeline and integrated oil companies were among the top 40 of 197 groups.

Homebuilders were near the bottom of the industry performance table, down more than 2% on the latest sign of a slowing housing market. Pending home sales fell for the 10th consecutive month.

"Over the year, the index has fallen sharply and given the sudden despondence in the homebuilders' ranks, it is not clear that trend will change anytime soon," noted Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisors.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

After Hours: Two Top Techs Signal Breakouts On Strong Earnings; Futures

The Big Picture: Stock Market Cheers Powell's Remarks, Sends Intriguing Signal

A Stock Rises Again After Its First Breakout Fails; Should You Buy Again?

Chip Stocks And Semiconductor Industry News