The stock market went on another wild ride Thursday as the key indexes kept investors guessing on their direction right up to the close.
XStocks opened lower, sank further and rallied in the last hour of the regular session to settle for solid gains. The Dow Jones industrial average led with a 1.1% jump, the S&P 500 rose 0.9% and the Nasdaq added 0.4%. Small caps lagged with the Russell 2000 up 0.2%.
That's an impressive finish for the stock market, considering the Dow had earlier been down as much as 2.7%, the S&P 500 2.8% and the Nasdaq 3.3%. Volume was slightly lower on the NYSE and Nasdaq vs. Wednesday, according to preliminary data.
Craziness has been the norm lately. Stocks kicked off the week with the worst-ever Christmas Eve, then surged to huge gains as the Dow Jones industrial average soared 1,086 points on Wednesday.
All but one of the Dow's 30 component stocks were lower with an hour left to go in the session. But by the close, only two blue chips held minor losses. Apple (AAPL) and United Technologies (UTX), down less than 1% each, were the only holdouts. Procter & Gamble (PG), 3M (MMM), IBM (IBM) and DowDuPont (DWDP) each rose more than 2%.
Automakers, energy and foreign banks led the downside among sector losers in the stock market today. Tesla (TSLA) fell 3% after halving its loss. It fell back below its 200-day line, then recovered it by the close. A near 2% slide in West Texas intermediate crude prices weighed on oil stocks.
Software companies, chipmakers and retailers led the upside. In the IBD 50, enterprise software maker ServiceNow (NOW) leapt nearly 5% to retake its 50-day line. It's been consolidating since mid-September in a rather wild and loose fashion.
Security software provider CyberArk Software (CYBR) added 3% to reclaim its 50-day moving average. It's also been consolidating in a volatile manner.
Kirkland Lake Gold (KL) rose 3% to a new closing high. Shares of the Canadian gold miner are extended from a 23.96 buy point of a four-month cup base.
Other top IBD 50 gainers included Planet Fitness (PLNT), Alarm.com (ALRM) and Fortinet (FTNT).
Several health care related stocks were among the biggest losers in the IBD 50. Clinical services provider Medpace Holdings (MEDP) stumbled 3% in higher-than-usual volume, but remains above its 200-day line. Horizon Pharma (HZNP), which lost 2%, is also holding above its 200-day average.
The Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) reversed from a 3% drop to a 1% gain.
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