The stock market faded in the last hour of trading Tuesday, but posted gains across the major indexes. Investors combed through a multitude of earnings reports and are awaiting the Fed's next move.
The two-day Fed meeting is underway, with a policy announcement due Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET. Markets expect a quarter-point Fed rate hike but see only a modest chance of another move before the end of the year. The 10-year Treasury yield added 5 basis points to 3.91% Tuesday afternoon.
The Dow Jones index extended its win streak, its longest in six years, to match a 12-session win streak that ended Feb. 27, 2017, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
The Nasdaq composite was 0.6% higher in Tuesday's stock market action. The Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out 0.1%, and the S&P 500 rose 0.3%. Meanwhile, the small-cap Russell 2000 was roughly flat.
The Nasdaq 100-tracking Invesco QQQ Trust ETF added 0.7%. The Innovator IBD 50 ETF was in line with the Nasdaq, rising 0.6%.
NYSE volume fell and Nasdaq volume rose vs. the same time on Monday, in preliminary numbers.
Stock Movers: Vet Stock Breaks Out
General Electric gapped up 6.3% in heavy volume after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings and sales. GE also raised its full-year EPS guidance.
Shares of General Motors sold off 3.5%. The automaker reported a beat on the top and bottom lines and raised guidance.
Veterinary stock Zoetis popped 2.5% and broke out of a cup base with a 187.82 buy point in heavy volume, according to MarketSmith chart analysis.
The company has posted lackluster earnings in four of the last five quarters, including two declining year-over-year quarters. Sales growth has been in the single digits for the last six quarters. Analysts expect 11% full-year EPS growth this year and 12% next year. Zoetis will report second-quarter earnings Aug. 8.
Stock Market Action: Airline Stock Triggers Sell Rules
Alaska Air Group stock gapped down 9.7% in heavy volume after the company reported its Q2 earnings and gave disappointing sales guidance.
Shares plunged sharply below the 50-day moving average in heavy trading, which is a sell signal. The airline stock also triggered a round-trip sell rule after giving back a 10% gain from a 51.02 entry of a cup with handle. Alaska Air said it expects third-quarter revenue growth of up to 3% vs. last year's quarter, according to the Wall Street Journal.
United Airlines stumbled 3.3%, Delta Air Lines lost 2.2% and American Airlines dropped 1.4% as airline stocks sold off today.
IBD 50 stock Zscaler surged 4.6% after BTIG upgraded the cloud security stock to buy from neutral with a 185 price target. Analysts expect whopping 137% EPS growth in fiscal 2023 and 29% in 2024.
Cloud security platform provider Datadog jumped 3.4% after Wolfe Research upgraded the stock to outperform from peer perform with a 140 price target. Shares are above the 5% buy zone of a long cup-with-handle base with a 103.80 entry point.
Follow Kimberley Koenig for more stock market news on Twitter @IBD_KKoenig.
