The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened lower, while tech stocks bore the brunt of selling Monday morning. The 10-year Treasury yield continued to rise, on pace to extend a win streak to seven sessions. U.S. oil prices tumbled more than 4% to trade below $95 a barrel. Twitter stock reversed from early losses spurred by Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk's decision against being a company director. And chip leader Nvidia slid on a downgrade.
Among the Dow Jones leaders, Apple dropped 0.9%, and Microsoft traded down 1.7% in today's stock market. Interest-rate sensitive JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs were the Dow's only premarket advancers, edging into narrow gains. The two companies report first-quarter results Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
Twitter rose around 2% Monday morning. On Sunday, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said that Elon Musk declined to join Twitter's board of directors. Electric vehicle giant Tesla skidded almost 5% early Monday, threatening to add to Friday's sharp losses.
Graphics-chip maker Nvidia fell more than 4% after Baird downgraded the stock from outperform to neutral and slashed its price target from 360 to 225.
As the stock market's uptrend struggles, Dow Jones financial leader American Express — along with Alphabet, Broadcom, IBD Leaderboard watchlist stock SolarEdge Technologies and Shell — are among Monday's top stocks to buy and watch.
Arista, Microsoft and Tesla are IBD Leaderboard stocks. Alphabet and Tesla stock were featured in last week's Stocks Near A Buy Zone column.
Dow Jones Today: Treasury Yields, Oil Prices
After Monday's open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.25%, while the S&P 500 moved down 0.8%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite sold off 1.05% in morning trade.
Among exchange-traded funds, the Nasdaq 100 tracker Invesco QQQ Trust fell 1.4%, and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF was down 0.6% after Monday's open.
On Friday, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield extended last week's gains, closing at 2.71% and hitting a new 52-week high. The 10-year yield continued higher Monday morning, rising to 2.75%, its highest level since March 2019.
Meanwhile, U.S. oil prices tumbled almost 4% Monday morning with West Texas Intermediate crude trading below $95 a barrel. China's worsening virus outbreak is raising concerns about demand.
Stock Market Rally
The stock market posted mixed action Friday, in a week that saw the market's uptrend come under pressure. The tech-heavy Nasdaq finished below its 50-day line, while the Dow Jones industrials ended with modest gains.
The Big Picture column commented, "The Nasdaq, down 1.3% on Friday, finished with a 3.9% loss for the week. That ate considerably into the composite index's three-week 11% rebound. Another big drop could lead to a fresh break below the 50-day moving average. In a good bull market, that's a technical no-no."
If you're new to IBD, consider taking a look at its stock trading system and CAN SLIM basics. Recognizing chart patterns is one key to the investment guidelines. IBD offers a broad range of growth stock lists, such as Leaderboard and SwingTrader.
Investors also can create watchlists, find companies nearing a buy point, or develop custom screens at IBD MarketSmith.
Four Dow Jones Stocks To Watch Now
Dow Jones Stocks To Buy And Watch: American Express
Dow Jones financial stock American Express is tracing a cup-with-handle base, showing a 194.45 buy point. Shares advanced 0.9% Friday, still below the 50-day moving average line. AXP shares fell 0.7% Monday morning after JPMorgan downgraded the stock from overweight to neutral.
Keep an eye on the stock's relative strength line. Amid its recent ascent, the RS line is nearing its old highs, but does have some work cut out for it ahead of a potential breakout. The RS line measures a stock's price performance vs. the S&P 500. The RS line should hit a new high on the breakout day or shortly thereafter to confirm the strength of a stock's breakout.
Four Top Growth Stocks To Buy And Watch In The Current Stock Market Rally
Stocks To Buy And Watch: Alphabet, Broadcom, SolarEdge, Shell
Tuesday's IBD 50 Stocks To Watch pick, Alphabet, shows a 2,875.97 buy point in a cup with handle, according to IBD MarketSmith chart analysis. GOOGL shares are about 7% away from the entry after Friday's 1.9% slide. The FANG stock dropped 1.25% Monday morning.
Broadcom fell 2.7% Friday, as the chip stock moved further below an early entry at 614.74. The stock is looking for support at it 50-day line. Meanwhile, shares have put in another buy point, a handle entry at 645.41. AVGO shares traded 0.7% lower Monday morning.
IBD Leaderboard watchlist stock SolarEdge Technologies finished Friday about 10% below a 340.10 cup-with-handle buy point. Shares dropped 2.4% early Monday.
Oil-and-gas producer Shell, the April 1 IBD Stock Of The Day, is just below a flat base's 56.23 buy point after Friday's 1.2% rise. Shares eased 0.4% Monday morning.
Join IBD experts as they analyze leading stocks in the current stock market rally on IBD Live
Tesla Stock
Tesla stock skidded more than 4% early Monday, threatening to add to Friday's 3% decline. Shares of the EV giant finished Friday about 11% away from a cup with handle's 1,152.97 buy point.
The stock traded as high as 1,243.49 on Nov. 4. and ended Friday about 18% away from that all-time high.
Dow Jones Leaders: Apple, Microsoft
Among Dow Jones stocks, Apple shares moved down 1.2% Friday, further below a 176.75 buy point in a double-bottom base. Along with that entry, a handle buy point is also in play at 179.71. Look for a decisive move above those levels as a buy signal. AAPL stock declined nearly 1% early Monday.
Software leader Microsoft lost 1.5% Friday, as shares continue to build the right side of a new base formation. Microsoft shares traded down 1.7% Monday morning.
Be sure to follow Scott Lehtonen on Twitter at @IBD_SLehtonen for more on growth stocks and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
