The stock market remained mixed in afternoon trading on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average still showing its strength over the other major indexes. Inflation data, along with strong earnings from Dow component Salesforce, topped headlines during the session.
A report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis said the personal consumption expenditures price index for October remained unchanged vs. estimates for a 0.1% increase. Year over year, the PCE rose 3% vs. the 3.1% forecast and was lower than September's 3.4%.
The closely watched core PCE index, which excludes volatile food and energy data, met expectations with a 0.2% rise. That reading's 3.5% year-on-year increase was in line with estimates and slowed from September's 3.7% reading. The incremental move downward is one step closer to the Fed's 2.0% inflation target and may support the case to pause additional rate hikes.
Bureau officials also said October Personal Income and Outlays rose 0.2%, as did personal consumption expenditures. Both were in line with estimates.
Further, weekly initial jobless claims for the week ended Nov. 25 came in at 218,000 vs. estimates for 219,000. Claims were higher than last week's revised 211,000.
Stock Market Indexes: Dow Flexes Its Muscles
In response to the inflation data, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped nearly 300 points — nudged in part by Salesforce's results — and showed a healthy 0.7% gain. But the Nasdaq deteriorated and edged lower by 0.8%, and the S&P 500 skidded 0.2% on the stock market today.
All three major indexes remained solidly above their 50-day moving averages. The small-cap Russell 2000 inched higher by 0.2%. It remains below its 200-day moving average.
The Dow is on pace for its highest close since Feb. 9, 2022, according to Dow Jones Market Data. And a close above 35,630.68 would be the highest close of 2023, the data shows.
Volume fell on the New York Stock Exchange but rose on the Nasdaq during Thursday's action vs. the same time on Wednesday.
The Invesco QQQ Trust, which tracks the Nasdaq 100, trimmed 0.9%. The Innovator IBD 50 ETF remained strong and popped 1.2%. And the 10-year Treasury yield added 7 basis points to 4.34%.
Stock Market Movers: Nvidia Pulls Back
Hewlett Packard Enterprise lifted around 1.3% on top of yesterday's 6.4% jump. Thursday's pop came following news it would expand its partnership with Nvidia on its artificial intelligence technology.
HPE is in a choppy base with an 18.14 buy point. Hewlett Packard reported its October-quarter earnings and sales late Tuesday, which were mostly in line with expectations.
Also, Morgan Stanley upgraded HPE to equal weight from underweight and maintained its price target of 16 on the tech icon.
Meanwhile, NVDA sank more than 3% on Thursday. The specialty chip and AI stock dipped below its 476.09 buy point out of a double-bottom base, undercutting its 21-day exponential moving average.
Snap gapped up 6% in heavy volume after Jefferies upgraded the stock to buy from hold and raised its price target to 16 from 12. Shares of the Snapchat parent are extended from the buy zone of a cup-with-handle base with a 12.43 buy point. SNAP reached a 52-week high on Thursday, after a 66% climb back from the bottom of the base in September.
Pinterest also popped after Jefferies upgraded PINS to a buy from hold and raised its price target to 41 from 32. The social media stock is extended from a double-bottom base with a 28.90 buy point. Shares also hit a 52-week high on Thursday.
La-Z-Boy surged more than 9% in heavy trading and broke out of a double-bottom base with a 32.57 buy point. The move came after the furniture maker reported higher-than-expected earnings and sales for its October quarter and raised its dividend 10%.
Despite the beat, earnings have dropped for three consecutive quarters as sales also declined during the same period.
Salesforce Hits A High
Salesforce gapped up more than 7% in huge volume following higher-than-expected earnings and sales for its October quarter. Shares bypassed the 238.22 buy point of an undefined base and hit a 52-week high. Its relative strength line also hit a 52-week high, according to MarketSmith pattern recognition.
Further, CRM stock led the S&P 500 and is on track for its largest one-day percentage increase since March 2, 2023, when it jumped 11.5%, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The customer relationship software maker gave a current-quarter outlook for earnings and sales above estimates. On the IBD Leaderboard watchlist, Salesforce reported 51% quarterly earnings growth on an 11% sales pop.
Nutanix jumped after the cloud infrastructure firm beat on its October-quarter estimates for its top and bottom lines. NTNX is extended from a long base and hit a 52-week high on Thursday.
Snowflake gapped up more than 6% after the data warehousing company beat views on its October-ended quarter earnings and revenue. Management also gave a current-quarter revenue outlook that exceeded projections. SNOW is in a cup base with a 193.94 buy point.
IBD 50 stock Synopsys gave back earlier gains, and was down more than 2% following the company's October-quarter earnings that came in higher than expected. Shares of the chip and electronics design software maker are extended from a flat base and hit an all-time high on Thursday before retreating.
Stock Action: Data Stock Tanks
On the downside in the stock market, Pure Storage tumbled more than 13% after the data storage company reported that it beat views on fiscal third-quarter earnings and sales, but gave a fourth-quarter sales outlook that lagged estimates.
PSTG stock deeply undercut its 50-day and 200-day lines, triggering a sell signal.
Tesla slid 1.7% ahead of its Cybertruck delivery event, scheduled to kick off at 3 p.m. ET.
Five Below dropped 0.5% following the teen-focused discount retailer's slight beat on its October-quarter earnings and sales estimates. The company also raised its full-year fiscal 2024 revenue outlook. Shares are in a double-bottom base going back to early April, with a 209.12 buy point.
Follow Kimberley Koenig for more stock market news on X/Twitter @IBD_KKoenig.
