Dow Jones Rises On Jobless Claims, Cool PPI Inflation Data; Cathie Wood Sells $5.7 Million Of Tesla Stock

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose on Thursday, after another round cool inflation data. Producer price increases in June were muted while unemployment claims unexpectedly dropped. Cathie Wood sold $5.7 million worth of Tesla stock on Wednesday through her Ark Invest ETFs.

The Producer Price Index (a measure of the prices paid for goods and service) showed that both overall prices as well as core producer price rose by 0.1%. This was below the estimate of 0.2%. Producer prices increased by 0.1%, less than the 0.5% projected, and core inflation rose 2.4%, which is below the 2.8% estimated.

In other places, the number of initial claims for unemployment dropped unexpectedly to 237,000 from 248,000 in previous weeks. It was expected that they would rise to 249,000.

Tesla (TSLA), the electric-vehicle company, reversed lower after Cathie Wood sold over 20,000 shares worth approximately $5.7 million on Wednesday.

Delta Air Lines, Fastenal and PepsiCo reported earnings early on Thursday.

Delta's stock rose more than 3% following better-than-expected results for the second quarter. In morning trading, FAST shares fell 2.5%. PepsiCo's shares rose 1.1%, after the company exceeded estimates and raised their outlook.

The official start of the earnings season will be Friday's announcements from the big banks. JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo are all scheduled to release their reports.

Stock Market Today

Alphabet (GOOGL), Meta Platforms (META) and other stock market leaders are Alphabet. GOOGL shares gained 1.7% while Meta shares gained 1.2% during early trading. Meta shares were upgraded by TD Cowen from market performer to outperform.

The current market correction is a good time to be watching Dynatrace, Meta Platforms and Monolithic Power Systems. Also watch Dow Jones stocks American Express and Caterpillar.

Tesla was recently featured as an IBD Leaderboard Stock, and American Express in the Stocks Near A Buy Zone. Dynatrace has been selected as IBD Stock Of The Day.

Dow Jones Today: Oil prices, Treasury Yields

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3% after Thursday's opening, while the S&P 500 rose by 0.5%. In morning trading, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.9%.

The Nasdaq-100 tracker Invesco QQQ Trust, (QQQ), was up by 0.9% while the SPDR S&P500 ETF, (SPY), rose 0.5% on Thursday morning.

After the PPI inflation data, the 10-year U.S. Treasury continued to decline, reaching 3.81%. The yield settled at 3.86% on Wednesday.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices were modestly higher on Thursday morning, continuing Wednesday's gains. WTI futures were trading just below $76 per barrel. OPEC anticipates that oil demand will grow strongly next year, thanks to the Asian economies.

Stock Market Action

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.25% on Wednesday while the S&P 500 gained 0.70%. The Nasdaq Composite, which is dominated by technology, rose 1.15%.

The Big Picture follow-through on March 29, as reported in IBD's Big Picture that day, proved that institutional investors have invested more money into stocks. "They also saw rallys in government bonds and commodities."

Dow Jones Stocks to Watch: American Express Caterpillar Salesforce

American Express wants to move past the 177.04-point buy-point for a cup with handle base. The shares briefly rose above the trigger for buying on Wednesday, before closing below it. AXP's stock rose by 0.8% on Thursday morning.

According to IBD MarketSmith's pattern recognition, industrial giant Caterpillar has a buy range beyond a buy point of 250.89 in a cup handle. The CAT stock rose slightly on Thursday morning.

Salesforce has decisively recovered from its 50-day level Wednesday and entered a new buying area. IBD Leaderboard analysis shows that the shares then surpassed a flat-base's 225 purchase point during Wednesday's 2.8% gain. The CRM stock rose 0.6% on Thursday morning.

Dynatrace Meta Monolithic Power Nvidia

Dynatrace, a software maker, remains above the 52.99 entry of a chart pattern that is tight for three weeks despite Wednesday's decline of 1.6%. Tight action is a short consolidation where institutional investors stop buying. According to IBD MarketSmith's chart analysis, shares are within the 5% buying zone that extends up to 55.64. DT stock climbed 1.3% on Thursday morning.

Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, has been consolidating over the past three weeks. A new entry was made at 298,12. This buy point is a good addition to the previous entry, as the stock has been so far stretched from its base. Meta shares rose 1.2% on Thursday.

Monolithic Power, the leader in semiconductor chips, broke out on Wednesday. It rose 3.4% and closed above a buy point of 553.64 within a flat basis. The shares are currently in the area of buys that extends up to 581.32. MPWR shares rose 0.9% on Thursday morning.

Nvidia's shares have trended consistently higher since their earnings-driven gap-up on May 25. The stock has been on a downward trend since June 20. This is a good time to buy. The stock formed a trendline at 418, after finding support at its 21 day exponential moving average. Nvidia is a stock on the IBD Leaderboard

Roku (ROKU 75.45 cup with handle)

Source: IBD data as of July 10, 2023

Tesla Stock

IBD Leaderboard's stock Tesla gained 0.8% on Wednesday. Tesla shares are still out of range to buy beyond the 207.79 point at which a double-bottom buy point is reached and remain near their 2023 highs.

TSLA's stock was expected to continue its upward trend, but it reversed Thursday and fell 0.3%. Tesla will report its results for the second quarter on July 19.

Apple, a Dow Jones stock, rebounded by 0.9% on Wednesday, ending a losing streak of three days. AAPL continues to hold strongly above a 157.38 purchase point. In the morning of Thursday, shares rose 0.2%.

Microsoft shares bounced 1.4% Wednesday to move into a new buying area. Microsoft shares rose 0.9% on Thursday morning.