The stock market finished the trading day with losses across the major indexes on Wednesday, but levels improved from the day's lows. The Nasdaq closed above a closely watched level.
Indexes trimmed losses in the final hour. The Dow cut its decline to 0.3% and the S&P 500 was down 0.6%. The Nasdaq improved to a 0.6% drop in the stock market today.
The Nasdaq composite tested its 21-day exponential moving average on Wednesday and found support at the line. The small-cap Russell 2000 cut losses to 0.7%.
Meanwhile, the Invesco QQQ Trust lost nearly 0.6% as the Innovator IBD 50 ETF also sank 0.6%.
Volume fell on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq, preliminary figures showed. The 10-year Treasury yield added 4 basis points to 4.11%.
Stock Market Movers: Genetic Testing Stock Soars
IBD 50 stock Natera surged 7.3% in heavy volume on news that the company must pay out a much smaller $57 million in damages than the $410 million plaintiffs sought in a patent infringement lawsuit. Natera stock broke out of a cup-with-handle base on Dec. 13, topping a 59.37 buy point. Shares are extended beyond the 5% buy zone, which runs to 62.34, according to MarketSmith pattern recognition. Natera specializes in genetic testing and medical diagnostics.
DoubleVerify spiked 5.2% and broke out of a cup-with-handle base with a 38 buy point. Shares are in a buy zone stretching to 39.90. DoubleVerify is today's IBD Stock Of The Day.
Interactive Brokers rebounded to close 2.3% higher, after initially gapping down on the online broker's higher-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and in-line sales. The stock tapped the 89.72 buy point of a cup-with-handle base Wednesday.
Charles Schwab also gapped down early in the session then trimmed most losses. It closed down 1.3% in Wednesday trading. The financial services company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings but sales were lower than estimates. The stock broke out of a cup base with a 68.80 buy point on Dec. 14, but the breakout quickly failed. Schwab stock is below its 21-day line but clawed back above its 50-day moving average.
Cloud Stock Hits A High
Nutanix jumped 4.8% after William Blair initiated coverage on the cloud platform stock with an outperform rating. The stock hit a nearly five-year high Wednesday.
Ford Motor fell 1.7% after UBS downgraded the stock to neutral from buy with a 12 price target. The stock could be finding support at its 50-day line.
Meanwhile, Magnificent Seven stock Nvidia trimmed 0.6% after reaching an all-time high Tuesday. Among other Magnificent Seven names, Tesla shed 2% and Apple pulled back 0.5%, still holding above its 200-day moving average.
Other Stock Movers: Delivery Stock Pops After Upgrade
Spirit Airlines tumbled 22.5% to add to Tuesday's 47.1% sell-off. On Tuesday, a federal judge blocked the merger between the low-cost airlines and JetBlue Airways. Shares of JBLU fell 8.7% after rising 4.9% on Tuesday.
IPO stock Maplebear, which operates Instacart, gapped up 7.5% after Wolfe Research upgraded the grocery delivery stock to outperform from peer perform and set a price target of 35. Shares reclaimed their 50-day line on Wednesday.
Teladoc Health gapped down 3.7% after D.A. Davidson downgraded the stock to neutral from a buy rating. The telehealth platform closed just above its 50-day line, as it remains in a post-pandemic slump.
Follow Kimberley Koenig for more stock market news on X/Twitter @IBD_KKoenig.
