The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose as stocks rallied into the close Monday. Tesla tumbled on disappointing delivery data, while World Wrestling Entertainment got mauled amid merger news. Dow component UnitedHealth popped as co-member Microsoft lagged.
A trio of promising stocks tested buy points despite the challenging action. Leaderboard stock Royal Gold, Tractor Supply and Marathon Petroleum all attempted breakouts.
Treasury yields slipped. The 10-year yield fell 8 basis points to 3.41% while the two-year yield skidded 9 basis points to 3.97%. The yield curve remains inverted.
Energy stocks got a boost after OPEC+ announced a surprise production cut. West Texas Intermediate crude rose more than 6% to over $80 per barrel. It is now testing multimonth highs.
Nasdaq Falls And Small Caps Slip
The Nasdaq struggled most out of the major indexes, falling 0.3% despite fighting its way off lows. Atlassian skidded 4.2%.
The benchmark S&P 500 reversed higher, gaining 0.4%. Energy stocks shined, with Halliburton and ConocoPhillips among the strong performers.
The S&P 500 sectors closed the day mixed, with a slight bias to the upside. Not surprisingly, energy and health posted the strongest gains. Consumer discretionary and real estate were the worst groups.
Small caps rallied early but the Russell 2000 still closed nominally negative. Growth stocks reversed higher, with the Innovator IBD 50 ETF rising 0.7%.
Dow Jones Today: UNH Shines, Microsoft Stock Lags
The Dow Jones fared best out of the major indexes. It gained more than 300 points as it finished the session up 1%.
UnitedHealth was the index's top performer, up 4.6%, bolstered by Friday's announcement of new Medicare rules.
Chevron also impressed, rallying 4.2% and gapping above its 200- and 50-day moving averages, MarketSmith analysis shows.
Salesforce was the worst laggard on the Dow Jones, falling 1.6%. Microsoft also lagged, but its loss of 0.4% was well off the day's lows.
Tesla Stock Dives On Deliveries
Tesla has staged a big rally so far in 2023. But it came under severe pressure Monday, hammered by reports of total Q1 2023 deliveries of 422,875 and production of 440,808. This was well below analyst estimates for deliveries of around 432,000 vehicles, according to FactSet data.
TSLA stock closed near lows for the day as it fell 6.1%. It lost more ground on its 200-day moving average but is holding clear of its 50-day line.
Tesla stock came close to a test of the 21-day exponential moving average.
TSLA remains up around 80% so far in 2023, but the stock is still well off historical highs.
CEO Elon Musk's brainchild has a robust IBD Composite Rating of 89 out of 99. Earnings have turned into a key strength as the stock holds a perfect 99 EPS Rating.
WWE Stock Slammed Amid Merger Talk
World Wrestling Entertainment stock was smashed off the top turnbuckle amid merger news Monday.
It managed to rebound off the ropes though as it closed down 2.1%, well off its lows, amid news it will merge with mixed martial arts giant UFC in a new, publicly traded company controlled by Endeavor. WWE is being valued at $9.3 billion, while UFC is being priced at $12.1 billion.
On the open market, World Wrestling Entertainment has a market cap of $7 billion, according to IBD data.
Entertainment firm Endeavor will own a 51% stake while WWE shareholders will own the remaining 49%.
Due to the deal's structure, longtime WWE CEO Vince McMahon will still hold a big stake.
It was not just WWE stock that took a tumble, though. Endeavor plunged 5.9%.
Outside Dow Jones: Leader Among Breakouts
Royal Gold attempted to break out past a cup-with-handle entry of 131.99. It closed slightly below that level.
The miner acquires and manages precious metal stream and royalty interests and is a member of the prestigious IBD Leaderboard list of top stocks.
Tractor Supply is sitting in a buy zone after racing past a flat-base entry of 239.76.
All-around performance is strong, with the stock holding an IBD Composite Rating of 95 out of 99. Earnings are mighty.
Marathon Petroleum is just below its entry after it attempted to break out of a consolidation pattern with a 136.56 buy point.
MPC stock is in the top 6% of stocks in terms of price performance over the past 12 months.
Please follow Michael Larkin on Twitter at @IBD_MLarkin for more analysis of growth stocks.
