Dow Jones Rises After Surprise Drop In Jobless Claims, Strong GDP; Cathie Wood Sells $7 Million In Tesla Stock

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed Thursday following a drop in initial unemployment claims, and strong GDP data for the first quarter. Two of Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest ETFs have sold more than seven million dollars in Tesla stock.

The Labor Department's first-time claims for unemployment dropped unexpectedly to 239,000 from 264,000 the week before. It was expected that they would rise to 270.000. The Commerce Department's third estimation of the first-quarter GDP increased to 2.0%, which was higher than expected.

Micron Technology, McCormick, Paychex and Simply Good Foods are the top earners for Thursday morning. Nike, the Dow Jones giant, will report its earnings after the close.

Micron's stock fell 5% during morning trading, while McCormick dropped 2.5%. Paychex shares fell slightly, while SMPL rose almost 4%.

Stock Market Today

The stock of electric-vehicle maker Tesla (TSLA), which is owned by Cathie Wood, fell 0.3% on Thursday morning. This was due to the sales made by Ark Invest ETFs. Wood has sold more than 500,000 EV shares in the past month.

Dow Jones Tech giants Apple (AAPL), and Microsoft (MSFT).

Alphabet (GOOGL), Meta Platforms (META) are also leading the rally in stock markets. Alphabet stock fell 1.2% while META shares moved down by 0.5%.

The best stocks to watch during the current stock market correction include McKesson, MongoDB, Lam Research and JPMorgan Chase.

Floor & Decor is still an IBD SwingTrader, and MongoDB appears in the Stocks Near A Buy Zone this week.

Dow Jones Today: Oil prices, Treasury Yields

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.6% after Thursday's opening, while the S&P500 also increased. In morning trading, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 0.2%.

The Nasdaq-100 tracker Invesco QQQ Trust, (QQQ), traded lower by 0.4% while the SPDR S&P500 ETF, (SPY), rose by 0.1% on Thursday morning.

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury ticked up to 3.82%. Recently, the yield has fluctuated between 3.57% to 3.85%. The yield settled at 3.71% on Wednesday.

Oil prices continued to decline Thursday morning and remain near their recent lows. West Texas Intermediate futures were trading below $70 per barrel. This is effectively flat for the past week, and down less than 4% since a high reached on June 21.

Stock Market Action

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.2% on Wednesday while the S&P 500 dipped. The Nasdaq Composite, which is dominated by technology, rose 0.3%.

In Wednesday's Big Picture, it was noted that "Of Course, the relatively narrow ranges of the equity indexes could be due to the fact that portfolio managers and equity traders are awaiting yet another salvo on important inflation data for the U.S. Economy." Expect some fireworks on Friday morning before the market opens to follow the latest personal consumption expenditures report, one of Federal Reserve's closely monitored price indicators.

The stock market is still in an upward trend, but it is beginning to pull back.

Dow Jones Stocks To Watch: JPMorgan, Merck, Salesforce

JPMorgan, the Dow Jones banking leader, rose more than 1% in early Thursday trading after the Federal Reserve's stress test for banks showed positive results. After Wednesday's small drop, JPM stock is now about 3% under a flat-base purchase point of 143.37. The shares are at their 50-day level.

Merck, the world's largest drug company, is forming a base at 119.65, despite the stock dropping 0.8% on Wednesday. The price of the stock fell further below the 50-day line. MRK stock dipped Thursday.

Salesforce has managed to stabilize itself following a slump in earnings. Now, it is testing support on the 50-day line. According to IBD's Leaderboard analysis, the megacap tech had previously passed two alternative entries at 194.01 y 200.10.

Chipotle Stocks to Buy and Watch: McKesson MongoDB Lam Research

According to IBD MarketSmith's pattern recognition, Chipotle has recovered from its support at the 10-week line. It is now building a base of 2,139.88 with a buy point. A trendline also allows for an early entry of 2,092.51. Chipotle has been featured as IBD Stock Of The Day. CMG's stock rose by a small amount on Thursday morning.

IBD SwingTrader McKesson stock is now in a buy range after a cup with handle entry of 401.53. The 5% zone of buy goes up to 421.61. Stocks fell 0.2% on Thursday.

MongoDB's recent earnings-driven jump has tightened the market, allowing for a new entry. The tight formation of three weeks shows a point to buy at 398.89. Aggressive investors can use trendlines around 386. The MDB stock rose by 0.4% on Thursday morning.

Stocks to Buy and Watch in Stock Market Rally

Here are the four best stocks in today's market to watch and buy, including one Dow Jones leader.

Roku (ROKU 75.45 cup with handle)

Source: IBD Data As Of June 28, 2023

Tesla Stock

IBD Leaderboard's Tesla stock rose for the second day in a row, with a 2.4% increase. Tesla shares are still out of the buy range, despite recent losses. The 207.79 point is a double bottom buy point.

TSLA's stock continued to rise on Wednesday, but closed slightly lower on Thursday.

Dow Jones Leaders - Apple and Microsoft

Apple, a Dow Jones stock, hit another record Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $ 189.90. The shares continue to trade above the 157.38 buying point. AAPL's stock rose 0.1% on Thursday morning.

Microsoft shares increased 0.4% on Wednesday, moving up for the second session in a row. The MSFT stock reached its all-time highest price of 351.47 on June 16. Investors could have made some profit in recent weeks when the stock hit the 20%-to-25% profit zone at a flat-base purchase point of 276.76. On Thursday morning, Microsoft's shares fell 0.6%.