The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose as indexes closed mixed Monday. A trio of Warren Buffett stocks are near buy points, including Mastercard and Taiwan Semiconductor. Meanwhile, Coinbase and Riot Blockchain dived as bitcoin tumbled.
A couple of noteworthy stocks made bullish moves amid the mixed action. Pinterest and Bruker both tested entries.
Treasury yields rose amid rising calm over banks. The 10-year yield surged 16 basis points to 3.54% while the two-year yield spiked 24 basis points to 4.02%, making the yield curve more inverted.
Meanwhile, the Dallas Fed's manufacturing index fell to a reading of -15.7 in March. This was a dip from -13.5 in February. Analysts had expected it to improve to -10.
Nasdaq Lags As Small Caps Shine
The Nasdaq lagged the other major indexes after last week's outperformance. It closed down 0.5%. Dexcom was a strong performer here, rising 1.7%.
The benchmark S&P 500 faded late but still rose 0.2%. First Republic Bank stood out here as it vaulted 11.8%.
The S&P 500 sectors were mostly positive. Energy, financials and industrials were the top performers. Communication services, real estate and technology were the only sectors to close in negative territory.
Solid action among financials bolstered small caps, with the Russell 2000 rising 1.1%. Growth stocks saw early gains fade, but the Innovator IBD 50 ETF ended with a 0.2% lift.
Dow Jones Today: Microsoft, Apple Stock Lag
The Dow Jones made the best gain out of the three major indexes. It rose nearly 200 points, or 0.6%.
IBM was the top Dow performer as it jumped 3.2%. JPMorgan Chase was also strong, rising 2.9%.
Two of last week's strong performers were lagging. Microsoft fell 1.5% as the flight to Big Tech safety eased. It is just below a 276.86 entry.
Apple ended the session down 1.2%. Despite this, it remains clear of all its moving averages.
Three Warren Buffett Stocks Eye Entries
There are few investors more feted than Warren Buffett. A trio of stocks owned by his firm Berkshire Hathaway are looking bullish.
Mondelez International is in a buy zone after clearing a flat-base entry of 68.91, MarketSmith analysis shows.
MDLZ stock is a strong all-around performer, with its IBD Composite Rating coming in at 89 out of 99. Big Money has been snapping it up of late.
Mastercard is forming a flat base with an ideal entry point of 390.10. The stock has cleared its short-term moving averages and sits just shy of its 50-day line.
MA stock boasts an IBD Composite Rating of 93. Earnings are a key strength, with the payments stock holding an EPS Rating of 88 out of 99.
Taiwan Semiconductor is another stock that could be added to your watchlist. It is in a consolidation with an ideal entry point of 98.10. Earnings are particularly strong here, while it is in the top 12% of stocks in terms of price performance over the past 12 months.
Bank Stocks: FCNCA Explodes On Silicon Valley Bank Deal
First Citizens BancShares rocketed on the news of a deal for its First-Citizens Bank & Trust unit.
It has agreed to purchase almost all loans and assume all customer deposits of the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank.
In a research note before the open, D.A. Davison said the buyout deal "buoyed stock futures higher" and served to calm the banking sector.
First Citizens stock gapped through its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, MarketSmith analysis shows. It ended the day up 53.7%, its best day on record, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
But regional banks remain well off recent highs despite being in comeback mode. The iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF rose 2.4% today but is more than 30% off where it stood back in February.
Tesla Stock Gains After Bullish Call
Tesla made only slight progress despite a couple of analyst calls. It rose 0.7%
Barclays bullishly reiterated TSLA stock as overweight, saying a "modest beat" in the first quarter with production "modestly outpacing deliveries" could give it a boost.
Tesla's deliveries in the first quarter are expected to reach record highs. However, analysts also expect earnings to decline compared with 2022.
Citigroup also hiked its price target on Tesla stock to 192 From 146, though it maintained a neutral rating.
Tesla is forging a base below the 200-day line, which is below the potential 217.75 buy point. TSLA staged a powerful run in January to mid-February. It remains up nearly 80% so far this year.
Coinbase Stock Plunges; Bitcoin Pressured On Binance News
Cryptocurrency stocks were coming under pressure amid yet more legal maneuvers in the space.
The Commodity Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC) is alleging in a complaint that Binance violated federal law to attract American users.
The company itself, founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao, and its former compliance officer, Samuel Lim, are all named in the lawsuit, which was filed Monday at an Illinois federal court.
Coinbase, which was previously served with a notice from the SEC, was hammered lower. COIN dived 7.8%, though it remains up about 86% so far this year.
Bitcoin, the most famous cryptocurrency, fell 3.6% Monday. It remains up more than 60% in 2023 despite the negative news.
Other digital currency plays also struggled. The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust fell 4.8% while Bitcoin mining play Riot Blockchain plunged 6.8%.
Outside Dow Jones: PINS Stock Breaks Out
While the market is in a correction, a couple of stocks still attempted breakouts Monday.
Pinterest briefly hit a buy point of 29.27 but sank back into the base. Volume was above average, an encouraging sign. The relative strength line hit fresh heights, which is also bullish.
Bruker came just shy of passing a flat-base buy point of 76.91. The medical research systems stock is also a strong all-around performer.
Buying at the moment carries extra risk, which means that it may be wiser to keep an eye on these for now.
Please follow Michael Larkin on Twitter at @IBD_MLarkin for more analysis of growth stocks.
