Dow Jones futures rose modestly Wednesday, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures. The consumer price index is due before the open. JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Goldman Sachs (GS), and Wells Fargo (WFC) beat earnings estimates before the open, with Citigroup (C) on tap.
↑
X
Stocks Close Mixed, Below Key Levels; Sea, Howmet Aerospace, Argan In Focus
The stock market rally closed mixed for a second straight session Tuesday after some up and down moves.
Nvidia (NVDA) fell while Tesla (TSLA) and Palantir Technologies (PLTR) pulled back from very aggressive entries Tuesday. But all three stocks rose fractionally early Wednesday.
A relatively large number of stocks flashed buy signals Tuesday, including Vistra (VST), Howmet Aerospace (HWM), Wix (WIX), Argan (AGX), Planet Fitness (PLNT), Ubiquiti (UI), Sea (SE) and Snowflake (SNOW).
But with the market struggling, investors should be wary of any new buys, while keeping overall exposure light.
Nvidia stock and Wix are on IBD Leaderboard, with Argan and Tesla stock on the Leaderboard watchlist. Wix stock, Planet Fitness and Vistra are on SwingTrader.
Argan, Howmet Aerospace and Snowflake stock are on the IBD 50. Howmet Aerospace and Palantir stock are on the IBD Big Cap 20.
Howmet Aerospace was Tuesday’s IBD Stock Of The Day. Planet Fitness stock was Monday’s pick.
The video embedded in the article reviewed the market action and analyzed Sea stock, Howmet Aerospace and Argan.
Dow Jones Futures Today
Dow Jones futures climbed 0.4% vs. fair value, with JPMorgan and Goldman stock both Dow giants. S&P 500 futures rose 0.3%. Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.35%.
The 10-year Treasury yield edged down to 4.76%.
Remember that overnight action in Dow futures and elsewhere doesn’t necessarily translate into actual trading in the next regular stock market session.
Bank Earnings
Kicking off Bank stocks, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and BlackRock (BLK) reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and revenue. Wells Fargo topped on earnings but missed on revenue. Both JPMorgan and Wells gave bullish 2025 guidance on net interest income.
JPMorgan stock rose slightly, signaling a possible a cup-with-handle breakout. Shares briefly topped the buy point Tuesday, with JPM’s relative strength line hitting a new high, with a blue dot.
Goldman stock and Wells Fargo stock climbed modestly, signaling move above their 50-day lines and perhaps near early entries within a base.
BLK stock rose modestly early Wednesday, but is well below its 50-day line.
Citigroup and Charles Schwab (SCHW) are due before Wednesday’s open.
Investors are expecting strong earnings in 2025 with an easier regulatory and capital backdrop. A normal yield curve, with long-term yields higher than on the short end, is positive for banks’ traditional borrow short, lend long model.
Citigroup is at the top of a short consolidation. Goldman is in a base, slightly below its 50-day lines. Charles Schwab has tumbled well below their 50-day lines.
Join IBD experts as they analyze leading stocks and the market on IBD Live
Stock Market Rally
The stock market rally tried to extend Monday’s intraday bounce off lows, but that quickly fizzled, though the indexes ultimately closed mixed. The PPI inflation report was tame, with core wholesale prices flat. But higher airfares and other factors didn’t bode well for Wednesday’s CPI report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5% in Tuesday’s stock market trading. The S&P 500 index edged up 0.1%. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.2%.
All are below their 50-day moving averages, with the Nasdaq hitting resistance near that key level on Tuesday. A fall below Monday’s lows would be highly bearish.
The small-cap Russell 2000 jumped 1.1%. It’s outperforming so far this week, along with the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP) and the First Trust Nasdaq 100 Equal Weighted Index ETF (QQEW), rebounding from their 200-day lines. But they are well their 50-day lines.
A number of stocks did flash buy signals, with a mix of energy, specialty metals, construction, consumer and even some techs.
U.S. crude oil prices retreated 1.7% to $77.50 a barrel, pulling back from a five-month high.
The 10-year Treasury yield dipped 1 basis point to 4.79%.
ETFs
Among growth ETFs, the Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) popped 1%. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) gained 1.1%. Palantir stock is a big IGV component. The VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH) advanced 0.3%. Nvidia stock is a dominant SMH holding.
Reflecting more-speculative story stocks, ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) fell 0.4% and ARK Genomics ETF (ARKG) slumped 3.5%. Tesla stock is still a major holding across Ark Invest’s ETFs. Cathie Wood’s Ark also owns a lot of Nvidia.
SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF (XME) rose 0.7%. The Energy Select SPDR ETF (XLE) rallied 1.1% and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) fell 1%.
The Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI) and Financial Select SPDR ETF (XLF) both climbed 1.2%.
Time The Market With IBD’s ETF Market Strategy
Nvidia, Tesla, Palantir
Nvidia stock gave up a modest early Tuesday gain to fall 1.1% to 131.76. Like the Nasdaq, NVDA stock has declined for five straight sessions amid concerns that the AI chip giant’s leadership is at risk.
Tesla stock jumped 4.8% Tuesday morning, breaking a steep downtrend and continuing a bounce from the 10-week line, briefly flashing an aggressive entry. But TSLA stock reversed to close down 1.7% to 396.36.
Late Tuesday, the SEC sued Tesla CEO Elon Musk, alleging he violated securities laws as he acquired Twitter shares in 2022.
Palantir stock leaped 5% early on, regaining its 50-day line, but faded for a 1.4% to 65.91. PLTR stock is still 8.7% below its 10-week line.
All three stocks rose a fraction in premarket trade.
What To Do Now
The stock market rally is hanging by a thread. While a recovery is still possible, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 face multiple resistance levels to the upside and little support below.
Some leaders are doing well, but when the market is sliding the vast majority of stocks will follow. Oil and gas stocks can be an exception, rising and falling on underlying energy prices.
But by and large, if you’re betting on an individual stock, you’re betting that the market will quickly improve. As an investor, you should be paying attention to what the market is doing, not what you think it will do or hope it will do.
The past two days have been examples of why investors shouldn’t get excited at the first glimmer of positive action.
With the market currently sliding, investors should be looking to reduce exposure to modest levels or less.
Keep working on watchlists. With a number of leaders or potential leaders setting up or teasing entries, you want to be tracking them. Many, if not most, are outside of the tech space.
The consumer price index and bank earnings could be market catalysts Wednesday, but which way?
Read The Big Picture every day to stay in sync with the market direction and leading stocks and sectors.
Please follow Ed Carson on Threads at @edcarson1971 and X/Twitter at @IBD_ECarson for stock market updates and more.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:
Catch The Next Big Winning Stock With MarketSurge
Best Growth Stocks To Buy And Watch
IBD Digital: Unlock IBD’s Premium Stock Lists, Tools And Analysis Today
The 200-Day Average: The Last Line Of Support?
How To Invest: Rules For When To Buy And Sell Stocks In Bull And Bear Markets