Dow Jones futures rose slightly early Wednesday, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures. Target dived on a big earnings miss while investors await Nvidia earnings after the close.
The stock market rally shrugged off early lows Tuesday due to Russia's nuclear saber-rattling, closing mixed but with the Nasdaq solidly higher.
Many leading stocks made bullish moves. Nvidia rebounded back above a buy point, amid positive analyst comments heading into the all-important earnings report. Fellow artificial intelligence chip play Astera Labs also flashed a buy signal.
Dow Jones Futures Today
Dow Jones futures rose 0.3% vs. fair value. S&P 500 futures advanced 0.2% and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.25%.
The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.42%. Crude oil futures climbed 1%.
Bitcoin rose to nearly $94,000 after briefly topping that level for the fist time on Tuesday.
Remember that overnight action in Dow futures and elsewhere doesn't necessarily translate into actual trading in the next regular stock market session.
Earnings
Before the open, Target reported its biggest earnings miss in two years, with revenue also falling well short. The discount giant slashed full-year EPS guidance, a day after Walmart beat views and guided higher. Target stock dived more than 15% in premarket trade.
Meanwhile, Nio, ZIM Integrated Shipping, TJX Cos. and Wix.com also reported before the open. Nio shares fell. TJX stock edged lower, near a buy point. Zim and Wix stock, already in buy zones, gapped higher. Williams-Sonoma is set to gap above key levels and flash at least early buy signals.
AI-related play Powell Industries, an AI-related play reported mixed-earnings after the close. Powell stock dived in premarket trade after jumping 8.1% Tuesday.
The video embedded in the article discusses the stock market action and analyzes Nvidia, Tradeweb Markets and Heico.
Nvidia and Tradeweb stock are on IBD Leaderboard. Heico stock and Nvidia are on SwingTrader. Nvidia, Astera Labs and Powell stock are on the IBD 50. Nvidia stock is on IBD Sector Leaders. Astera Labs stock is on IPO Leaders. Tradeweb was Tuesday's IBD Stock Of The Day.
Join IBD experts as they analyze leading stocks and the market on IBD Live
Stock Market Rally
The stock market rally opened solidly lower on Russia's nuclear threats, but quickly bounced back to closed mixed but generally higher. Walmart earnings and bullish analyst comments on Nvidia and AI-tied Vertiv were among the positive factors.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3% in Tuesday's stock market trading. The S&P 500 index rose 0.4%. The Nasdaq composite jumped 1%. The small-cap Russell 2000 advanced 0.8%.
All of these indexes held their 21-day lines after undercutting that level intraday. That was bullish action.
The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF fell 0.3%, but it rebounded from near the 50-day line to hold the 21-day.
The First Trust Nasdaq 100 Equal Weighted Index ETF rose 0.2%, bouncing from just above its 50-day but closing below its 21-day.
U.S. crude oil prices rose 0.3% to $69.39 a barrel.
The 10-year Treasury yield fell 3.5 basis points to 4.38%, amid safe-haven flows over Russia's nuclear threats. The 10-year yield came off intraday lows and is not far from recent five-month highs around 4.5%.
ETFs
Among growth ETFs, the Innovator IBD 50 ETF leaped 4%. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF rose 1.4%. The VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF gained 1.1%. Nvidia stock is the dominant holding in SMH.
ARK Innovation ETF advanced 1.5% and ARK Genomics ETF popped 2.5%.
Time The Market With IBD's ETF Market Strategy
Nvidia Stock
Nvidia stock leapt 4.9% to 147.01 on Tuesday. Shares moved back above the 140.76 consolidation buy point and the 21-day moving average after undercutting those levels Monday, according to MarketSurge.
Two analysts made bullish comments about the next-generation Blackwell AI chip after an Nvidia presentation Monday.
But buying right before Wednesday night's earnings is highly risky.
Analysts expect Nvidia earnings to jump 87.5% to 75 cents a share while revenue runs 83% higher to $33.13 billion. That would end a five-quarter string of triple-digit growth for the AI chip giant.
The focus will be on guidance and the ramp-up of Blackwell production and shipments.
Nvidia will be key for the entire market rally, notably AI plays and especially AI chipmakers.
Nvidia chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor rose 1.2% on Tuesday, bouncing off the 50-day line but just below the 21-day.
Broadcom edged down 0.2% on Tuesday after plunging 10.2% last week, falling decisively below its 10-week line.
Astera Labs stock jumped 5.3% to 95.18, breaking the downtrend of what could viewed as a high handle to a long consolidation. That following an earnings gap up on Nov. 5. But Nvidia earnings are a clear risk for ALAB stock.
What To Do Now
The stock market rally found bullish support at the 21-day line, but that remains a battleground.
Investors could have made some incremental purchases or add-on buys Tuesday as some leaders such as Nvidia and Tradeweb stock flashed entries. Nvidia earnings and the market at key levels mean those trades could look quite good in a couple days or underwater. So if you're going to be nimble getting in you have to be quick to back out.
Generally standing pat, perhaps after trimming exposure last week, makes a lot of sense.
Definitely work on watchlists and exit strategies. The recent pullback is creating potential buying opportunities. On the flip side, what's your game plan if the major indexes sell off and drop below their 50-day lines?
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