The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2% at 1:30 p.m. Thursday as Fed Chair Jerome Powell answered questions raised by the Senate Banking Committee.
Powell resumed his testimony Thursday in front of the Senate Banking Committee, after he addressed a House committee Wednesday. A "strong majority" of Fed members favors more hikes this year, he said.
Addressing the Committee's questions regarding the recent bank crisis and large regional banks, the Fed chair said that "there is a clear need to strengthen both supervision and regulation of banks of that size." The chair affirmed earlier that banks remained "sound and resilient."
On Wednesday, Powell made a concession to a hawkish stance, stating that "given how far we've come, it may make sense to move rates higher but to do so at a more moderate pace."
The S&P 500 rose 0.1%, while the Nasdaq pared back some earlier gains and traded 0.4% higher at the hour.
Volume on the NYSE and on the Nasdaq was lower compared with the same time on Wednesday.
Crude oil fell nearly 3% to trade at $70.55 a barrel.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 8 basis points to 3.80%.
The small-cap Russell 2000 lagged, falling 0.9%. Meanwhile, the Innovator IBD 50 ETF outperformed, gaining 0.3%.
Dow Jones Stocks
Health care leader Merck is clearing a trendline entry at around 111 within a flat base. The stock has yet to clear the 50-day line. Walgreens is finding support at the 21-day line ahead of earnings next week. Apple continues to hold near its all-time-high of 186.99 with support at the 10-day line.
Nasdaq Bounces, This Trio Flashes Buy Signals; Is Pullback Over?
Stocks Moving Today
IBD Leaderboard stock Celsius rose from its 10-day line, according to IBD MarketSmith chart analysis.
KB Home fell after earnings. The stock has made a 25% gain from its prior entry of 40.67.
Accenture fell sharply after a strong third quarter as new bookings of $17.2 billion came in lower than views of $18.25 billion. The IT firm also trimmed its full-year growth target.
Olive Garden restaurants parent Darden also fell after fiscal fourth-quarter results.
CarMax rose slightly with earnings due Friday.
Shares of Tesla rose despite yet another analyst downgrade. This time, a Morgan Stanley analyst gave the EV leader an equal weight rating, down from overweight, but raised the price target to 250 from 200.
C3.ai stock fell slightly in a test of its 21-day moving average as its investor day started at 1:30 p.m. ET Thursday.
Outside the Dow Jones, chip and software stocks have pulled back after a massive rally. Some are finding support. IBD SwingTrader stock Broadcom is testing its 10-day line. Ansys is finding support at its 21-day line as are Super Micro Computer and Axcelis. ACLS is on the IBD 50 list.
Amazon rose on Thursday. Last week, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) approved Amazon's purchase of iRobot.
Alcoa fell after Morgan Stanley cut its price target to 33 from 43 and reduced the rating to underweight from equal weight.
Piper Sandler cut DigitalOcean to underweight from neutral with a price target of 35. The stock is triggering a round trip sell signal as it falls. It had gained nearly 20% from its 39.66 entry.
Intra-Cellular Therapies is at a buy point of 66.56 in a flat base.
Initial jobless claims rose more than expected to 264,000 vs. 262,000 the previous week. Existing home sales saw a large 20% drop, compared with May 2022.
Please follow VRamakrishnan on Twitter for more news on the stock market today.
