The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer made a call on the long awaited infrastructure bill. The Federal Reserve is holding steady on interest rates. Meanwhile Apple (AAPL) was one of the worst performing blue chips, with Boeing (BA) soaring higher. Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) surged on earnings, while Microsoft (MSFT) made mild gains.
A number of names were offering entries as growth stocks outperformed. Leaderboard stock Generac (GNRC) rebounded past a new follow-on entry point, while Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Repligen (RGEN), ArcelorMittal (MT) and Axon Enterprise (AXON) were among a diverse cluster of stocks passing IBD-style buy points.
XSchumer Makes Infrastructure Call
Senate Majority Leader Schumer has told lawmakers to be ready to vote on a long awaited infrastructure bill as soon as Wednesday night after an agreement on the roughly $1 trillion package
The Democrat leader is keen to get a deal over the line after a similar vote failed last week. It comes after a group of GOP senators reached an agreement with Democrats on "major issues" in regards to the massive spending deal.
Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman, the lead GOP negotiator told reporters he expects legislative language to be ready before the expected vote.
"We now have an agreement on the major issues. We are prepared to move forward," he said.
The deal will boost spending in areas including roads, bridges and broadband access.
Fed Holds Steady
Meanwhile, Federal Open Market Committee announced it is keeping interest rates in a target range near zero at the end of its latest two-day meeting. This was as expected.
The committee also reiterated its view that the economy continues to strengthen.
"The sectors most adversely affected by the pandemic have shown improvement but have not fully recovered," it said in a statement. "Inflation has risen, largely reflecting transitory factors. Overall financial conditions remain accommodative, in part reflecting policy measures to support the economy and the flow of credit to U.S. households and businesses."
It also hinted the tapering of bond purchases could start later in 2021.
Nasdaq Gains, Growth Stocks Lead
The Nasdaq was the leading major index, gaining 0.9%. Chinese e-commerce play Pinduoduo (PDD) led with a gain of more than 14%, though NetEase (NTES) also impressed with a 13% rise. The latter stock remains shy of its long-term 200-day line, however.
U.S. Stock Market Today Overview |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Index | Symbol | Price | Gain/Loss | % Change |
| Dow Jones | (0DJIA) | 35032.24 | -26.28 | -0.07 |
| S&P 500 | (0S&P5) | 4413.25 | +11.79 | +0.27 |
| Nasdaq | (0NDQC ) | 14786.26 | +125.69 | +0.86 |
| Russell 2000 | (IWM) | 221.71 | +4.09 | +1.88 |
| IBD 50 | (FFTY) | 45.50 | +1.01 | +2.27 |
Last Update: 2:50 PM ET 7/28/2021 |
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The S&P 500 was slightly positive, rising 0.3%. Top performers included AMD, which rose more than 7%, and Xilinx (XLNX) bursting 6.9% higher amid a key test of the 50-day moving average. On the downside, Humana (HUM) lagged most, dipping almost 7%.
The S&P sectors were mixed, with energy and communication services making the best gains. Consumer staples and utilities were the biggest laggards.
Small caps fighting back from a tough Tuesday, with the Russell 2000 rising 1.9%.
But it was growth stocks that fared best of all. The Innovator IBD 50 (FFTY) exchange traded fund gained 2.3%. It comes after an 8.7% jump last week.
Dow Jones Dips, Apple Stock Falls
The Dow Jones Industrial Averaged fared the worst out of the major indexes, but rallied from lows. It was down 0.1%. Apple stock was one of the biggest laggards, dipping more than 1%, despite a strong earnings report. It remains slightly extended from a cup base buy point of 137.17.
Boeing was the biggest winner on the day, rising around 4.5%. The aerospace giant posted a surprise profit as aircraft demand rebounds from a slump amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The stock gapped up, but the fact it was turned away at the 50-day moving average is a disappointment.
Alphabet Gains As Microsoft Stock Stays Flat
Google parent Alphabet was making a good gain after posting an earnings beat. It was up more than 3%, and pulled further away from a 2,431.48 entry.
Google earnings crushed views amid booming advertising revenue. Its cloud-computing business also topped views.
Meanwhile Microsoft was flat, and remains extended past a cup base entry point of 263.29.
It was struggling to make progress, despite Microsoft earnings topping fiscal Q4 views late Tuesday. Azure cloud-computing revenue grew 51%.
Microsoft and Google are both members of the prestigious IBD Leaderboard of leading growth stocks.
The cloud-computing giants are trying to catch up to industry leader Amazon Web Services.
Leaderboard Name, AMD Stock Pass Buy Points
Leaderboard stock Generac rebounded strongly an early post-earnings plunge. It remained down just over 1%, but had been down almost 13% early in the session.
This enabled the stock to stage an impressive rebound off the 10-week line. It offered a new entry point of 394.68, but it has now surged past the top of the buy zone, which sits at 434.15.
AMD is in a buy zone after surging past a cup with handle and its entry of 95.54. The stock got a post earnings bounce after EPS surged by 250%.
With stock market performance badly lagging earnings, there is a chance the chip giant could outperform going forward.
Repligen is at the top of a buy zone after breaking out of a long consolidation pattern. The entry point here is 228.94.
It comes after the bioprocessing tools company, which has seen stout growth in the Covid-19 era, posted a strong earnings beat.
ArcelorMittal is in a buy zone after breaking out of a consolidation pattern. The proper buy point here is 34.06.
The mining stock surged more than 6%, and is getting to report earnings Thursday.
Axon Enterprise rose above a weekly chart's cup-with-handle buy point of 185.39. The taser and police bodycam maker has slipped back just below this entry.
The firm, which boasts strong earnings performance, is reporting earnings in eight days. This makes buying risky.
Please follow Michael Larkin on Twitter at @IBD_MLarkin for more on growth stocks and analysis.
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