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SCOTT LEHTONEN

Dow Jones Falls As China Covid Protests Spread; Oil Prices Hit 2022 Low

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 150 points Monday, as markets reacted to protests spreading in major cities throughout China in response to President Xi Jinping's zero-tolerance approach to Covid-19. Oil prices hit a 12-month low, and stocks in Europe traded moderately lower in early afternoon trade.

Investors are anticipating a slew of key economic reports this week, including gross domestic product, inflation data and Friday's jobs report. And Fed Chair Jerome Powell will speak at the Brookings Institution on Wednesday.

Earnings reports this week include CrowdStrike, Dollar General and Intuit. Also included is Dow Jones stock Salesforce, along with Snowflake, Ulta Beauty and Workday.

Stock Market Today

Biotech Biogen declined more than 2% after Science.org reported that a woman participating in a trial of the experimental Alzheimer's treatment lecanemab recently died from a brain hemorrhage. The publication said the trial was sponsored by Biogen and Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai.

Electric-vehicle giant Tesla traded up 0.5% after reversing from early losses Monday. Dow Jones tech leaders Apple and Microsoft were squarely lower after today's stock market open. Tesla and Apple both have strong exposure to circumstances in China.

IPO Leader Array Technologies, IBD Leaderboard stock Arista Networks, KLA and Ulta Beauty — as well as Dow Jones names Caterpillar and Chevron — are among the top stocks to buy and watch.

Arista Networks is an IBD Leaderboard stock and was a recent IBD Stock Of The Day. Ulta Beauty was featured in last week's Stocks Near A Buy Zone column. Array was last week's IPO Stock Of The Week.

IBD's latest newsletter MarketDiem gives you actionable ideas for stocks, options and crypto right in your inbox.

Dow Jones Today: Oil Prices, Treasury Yields

After Monday's opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%, while the S&P 500 moved down 0.6%. Oil-related stocks were eight of the S&P 500's 10 largest losers in early trade. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite lost 0.4% in morning action.

Among exchange-traded funds, the Nasdaq 100 tracker Invesco QQQ Trust fell 0.1% early Monday, and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF lost 0.65%.

The 10-year Treasury yield ticked lower to 3.68% Monday morning, falling to another recent low. On Friday, the 10-year Treasury yield closed at 3.69%, its lowest close since Oct. 4. Meanwhile, U.S. oil prices came off lows after diving more than 3% early Monday, touching their lowest level since December 2021. West Texas Intermediate futures traded around $74 a barrel.

Stock Market Rally

On Friday, the stock market posted sharply mixed action, as the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite lost 0.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.5%, while the S&P 500 inched lower.

Friday's The Big Picture commented, "Once again it was blue chip stocks that showed the most impressive action. In a session that ended at 1 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted a solid gain of 0.5% and ended the week up 1.8%. It is trading above all its moving averages and is now down just over 6% for the year."

Now is an important time to read IBD's The Big Picture column amid the ongoing stock market volatility.

Five Dow Jones Stocks To Buy And Watch Now

Dow Jones Stocks To Buy And Watch: Caterpillar, Chevron

Dow Jones member Caterpillar is close to retaking its cup base's 238 buy point, according to IBD MarketSmith pattern recognition, and is less than 1% below the entry. CAT stock, with a heavy exposure to China, fell 0.9% Monday. 

CAT stock boasts an impressive 96 out of a perfect 99 IBD Composite Rating, per the IBD Stock Checkup.

Energy giant Chevron is in the buy range above a consolidation's 182.50 buy point despite Friday's 0.3% decline. The 5% buy area goes up to 191.63. CVX shares dropped 2.5% Monday morning, falling in line with oil prices.

4 Top Growth Stocks To Watch In The Current Stock Market Rally

Top Stocks To Buy And Watch: Array, Arista, KLA, Ulta

Solar leader and IPO stock Array Technologies broke out past a 22.40 buy point in a cup with handle last week, according to IBD MarketSmith pattern recognition. Shares finished in the 5% buy area that goes up to 23.52. ARRY stock fell 4.9% Monday morning.

IBD Leaderboard stock Arista Networks remains in buy range above a choppy base's 132.97 buy point despite Friday's 1% loss. ANET stock traded down 0.9% Monday.

KLA is still just off a cup-with-handle's 392.60 buy point amid Friday's 1.45% decline. Bullishly, the stock's relative strength line hit a new high in recent weeks, a sign of big outperformance vs. the S&P 500. KLAC stock dropped 1.5% Monday.

Ulta Beauty ended just a touch out of buy range Friday, rising 0.2%. The 5% buy zone past a 426.99 buy point in a cup with handle runs up to 448.34. Ulta reports third-quarter results on Thursday. The stock traded 0.2% higher Monday.

Join IBD experts as they analyze leading stocks in the current stock market rally on IBD Live

Tesla Stock

Tesla stock inched lower Friday, giving back a portion of Wednesday's near-8% surge. Last week, the stock hit its lowest level since Nov. 23, 2020, reaching a new 52-week low price at 166.19. Tesla shares are around 55% off their 52-week high and sharply below their 50- and 200-day moving average lines.

Shares of the EV giant traded up 0.5% Monday morning.

Dow Jones Leaders: Apple, Microsoft

Among Dow Jones stocks, Apple shares sold off 2% Friday, but the iPhone maker is still holding above its recently recaptured 50-day line and is about 19% off its 52-week high. The stock traded down 1.5% Monday amid a Bloomberg report that the company is likely to encounter a production shortfall of close to 6 million iPhones Pro due to "turmoil" at its key manufacturing hub in Zhengzhou, China.

Microsoft inched lower Friday, snapping a three-day win streak that saw shares reach their highest level since Oct. 25. The stock is back above its 50-day line, but is still about 28% of its 52-week high. Microsoft shares lost 0.7% Monday morning.

Be sure to follow Scott Lehtonen on Twitter at @IBD_SLehtonen for more on growth stocks and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

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