The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded slightly lower Thursday before erasing losses. Investors remain cautiously optimistic over prospects of a U.S.-China trade deal. U.S. stocks edged slightly lower midday as the House of Representatives moved to formally impeach President Donald Trump. Multiple Dow Jones stocks traded in key buy zones, including Nike (NKE), Disney (DIS) and Microsoft (MSFT). Dow giant Apple (AAPL) gained 1% intraday after an analyst upgrade. IBD 50 component RH (RH) vaulted 12% higher on a strong earnings beat.
XStock Market Rallies Despite Impeachment News
The stock market remains in a confirmed uptrend, despite the Trump impeachment news. Markets reacted mildly to the news of the House moving to formally impeach the president. As of now, it appears likely that Trump will be acquitted by the Senate and not be removed from office, which explains the very mild market reaction.
Trade tariffs on roughly $160 billion of Chinese-made goods are set to take effect Dec. 15, unless the U.S. and China strike a "phase one" deal within the next 10 days.
The Dow Jones closed up 0.1%. The major index bounced off its rising 10-week moving average — a bullish sign. The S&P 500 added 0.15% and the Nasdaq composite rose less than 0.1%. Preliminary data showed volume on the NYSE and Nasdaq coming in slightly lower than Wednesday.
The Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Dow Jones all hit record highs last week before this week's pullback amid a highflying fourth quarter rally fueled by trade war optimism. Year to date, the Nasdaq is up about 28%. The S&P 500 has gained about 23%, while the Dow Jones has risen about 18%.
Among exchange traded funds, Innovator IBD 50 (FFTY) rallied 0.64% Thursday. The top growth stock ETF found support near its 50-day line earlier this week.
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Dow Jones Lead By Gains From Apple, Nike
Major Dow component Microsoft received a major analyst upgrade and price target hike, citing the tech giant's cloud-computing business's profit margins as likely to keep pace with or even beat those of Amazon Web Services. Microsoft stock was fairly unaffected by the news.
Microsoft closed flat, near 149.93 on the stock market today. The stock broke out of a flat base with a 142.47 buy point on Oct. 28. On Nov. 27, the stock hit a new all-time high of 152.50 before pulling back. The stock currently sits barely outside of it's 5% buy zone, which tops out at 149.59. The stock has an RS Rating of 89, with it's relative strength line reaching new highs alongside the stock price.
Microsoft ranks No. 24 on the IBD 50 list of top-performing growth stocks.
Elsewhere in the Dow Jones, Nike stock gapped up nearly 2.4% after Goldman Sachs upgraded the retailer from neutral to buy. The stock broke out past the 95.22 buy point of a cup-with-handle base, as seen on a daily chart. Though the stock's relative strength line is weaker than an ideal breakout, it's currently trending sharply higher and has been strengthening since mid-November. The stock closed within its current 5% buy zone.
Nike prevailed as the top-performing Dow Jones stock on Thursday.
Apple traded higher nearly 1.4% after Citi hiked its price target to 300 from 250. Shares are now extended 19% from a 221.47 buy point of a flat base. The current Leaderboard stock and breakout winner may soon trigger the 20%-25% profit-taking rule.
While Apple remains one of the companies most at risk of an unresolved U.S.-China trade war, the stock still managed to show renewed strength on Wednesday and Thursday.
RH Stock Wins Big On Major Earnings Beat
Retail stock leader and IBD 50 winner RH reported strong Q3 results, launching the stock 12% higher in strong volume. The IBD Leaderboard stock idea is extended after bouncing off the 50-day line last month. The home and office furnishings retailer reported a revenue gain of 6.4% to $677.5 million while profit surged 74% to an adjusted $2.77 a share. Shares gained more than 16% since clearing a three-weeks-tight pattern near 175 last month.
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