Stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average set the pace early Thursday, though the three blue chips near the top had the look of deep repairs. The indexes staged a negative reversal after a member of the Federal Reserve said he saw no need for an additional interest rate cut.
XThe Dow Jones was hovering near the flat line Thursday morning, after being up 0.7% in early trade. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq lost 0.3% and 0.7%, respectively.
Small caps in the Russell 2000 sliced off 0.4%.
Volume in the stock market today rose on both major exchanges. Trade has fallen in five consecutive sessions through Wednesday.
Dow Jones Blue Chips
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) advanced 0.9% but remained 8% off its high and under its 50-day line. Goldman Sachs (GS) rose 0.8% but was 17% off its high. Boeing (BA) knifed 2.5% higher and is 21% off its high.
Only Boeing had strong volume.
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve member Patrick Harker said he doesn't see the need for an additional rate cut right now. Harker is a nonvoting member. He is convinced the U.S. economy is strong and doesn't need additional stimulus. First-time jobless claims released Thursday appeared to back that view. Jobless claims rolled in at 209,000, below the Street's consensus estimate of 216,000.
The Day's Stock Breakouts
Bulls had to look beyond the Dow to find breakouts.
Electronic measurement company Keysight Technologies (KEYS) powered ahead 9% in huge volume. The large-cap stock cleared a 94.62 buy point in a shallow consolidation. Keysight grew quarterly earnings 40%, topping the Street's consensus view by 22%. Revenue came in 8% higher, which represented the second quarter of decelerating revenue growth.
Keysight led IBD 50 winners, though its gain was offset by losses in SolarEdge Technologies (SEDG), Baozun (BZUN) and other stocks. The Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) was down nearly 1% in today's stock market.
Landscape equipment maker Toro (TTC) motored above a 74.06 buy point. The stock rose almost 5% but then reversed to a 1% gain, undoing the breakout. Earnings grew 22%, beating views by almost 14%.
Brazil medical educator Afya Limited (AFYA) climbed above a 29.47 buy point. The July initial public offering reported a profit of 15 cents a share in 2017 and 25 cents a share in 2018. The IPO has a Composite Rating of 98. The rating combines all five IBD ratings into a single number. A rating of 98 means the stock is in the top 2% among all the stocks in IBD's database.
New Highs For 3 Restaurants
Among IBD's 197 industry groups, retail and homebuilders were strong. Solar and software groups were weak.
Going into Thursday's session, the restaurant group was No. 25.
Stocks notching new highs included Wingstop (WING) and Wendy's (WEN). Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) also touched a new high but then retreated off the high.
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