Dow Jones Falls After Jobless Claims; Powell Speech Now; Tesla Stock Downgraded

Investors digested the initial data on unemployment claims. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has begun his monetary report to the Senate Banking Committee. Tesla's stock rose after another analyst downgrade.

The number of first-time claims for unemployment rose above expectations to 264,000. Econoday's estimates predicted a decline to 261,000 from 262,000 the week before. The National Association of Realtors' May existing home sales figures unexpectedly increased to 4.3 millions. It was expected that they would fall slightly, to a rate of 4,25 million annualized compared to April's 4,28 million.

Powell said on Wednesday that more interest rate hikes are likely to lower inflation. "Nearly everyone FOMC members expect that it will appropriate to increase interest rates a little further by the end the year."

CME FedWatch Tool shows that investors see a greater than 76% chance of an increase of one quarter point at the Fed meeting in July. This is up from 60% a week ago.

The Bank of England increased its lending rate from 5% to 5% by a half percentage point. This is the highest rate since April 2008.

Darden Restaurants and KB Home were the two biggest earnings movers on Thursday morning. Darden shares fell 3% during morning trading, while KBH stocks dropped almost 2%.

Stock Market Today

Tesla (TSLA), the EV giant, reversed its upward trend on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has downgraded the shares from overweight to equal weight and raised their price target from 200 to 250. Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), and other Dow Jones tech giants were up after the stock market opened today.

Dexcom, Chipotle Mexican Grill, McKesson and Roku are all good stocks to watch or buy in this uptrend.

Tesla is a leaderboard stock on IBD. McKesson, an IBD SwingTrader Stock, is also featured in this week's.

Dow Jones Today: Oil prices, Treasury Yields

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.1% after Thursday's opening, while the S&P 500 rose 0.1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5% this morning.

The Nasdaq-100 tracker Invesco QQQ Trust, (QQQ), traded up 0.2% while the SPDR S&P500 ETF, (SPY), moved down by 0.25% on Thursday morning.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury Yield ticked up to 3.72% on Thursday. The yield fluctuated between 3.57% to 3.85% in recent weeks, and settled slightly lower on Wednesday at 3.72%.

The oil prices dropped sharply on Thursday morning. West Texas Intermediate futures dropped almost 2% and held at $71 per barrel before the weekly report on oil inventories from the Energy Information Administration, which is due out Thursday.

Stock Market Action

The S&P 500 fell 0.5% on Wednesday, but small-cap stocks held up better. Russell 2000 slipped 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%.

After failing to test the 14,000-level on Friday, Nasdaq continued its largest pullback in over two months. The 1.2% decline on Wednesday was the third consecutive drop. This was the first time since May 4th, when a four-day decline occurred.

Dow Jones Stocks to Buy and Watch: Boeing JPMorgan Salesforce

Boeing, Dow Jones' aerospace giant, saw its breakout attempt falter Wednesday with a further 0.1% slip. The shares are now 4% under their most recent buy trigger. The stock of BA fell another 3.1% on Thursday as Spirit AeroSystems, a supplier to BA, closed its factory due to a strike by workers.

After Wednesday's 0.15% decline, JPMorgan is now just below the 143.37 buy-point. JPMorgan stock rose by 0.1% on Thursday morning.

Salesforce has managed to stabilize itself following a slump in earnings. The company is testing the support of the 21-day moving exponential average. According to IBD Leaderboard, the megacap tech had previously moved past two new alternative entries at 194.01 y 200.10 according to IBD Analystboard.

In recent weeks shares have reached the 20% profit zone after a cup with handle entry of 178.94 and are now trying bounce off support at the 10-week level. The CRM stock rose 0.8% on Thursday morning.

Dexcom Chipotle McKesson Roku

According to IBD MarketSmith's pattern recognition, Dexcom is still in the buy zone past a flat-base buy point of 126.44, despite having lost three consecutive days as of Wednesday. The 5% buying area extends up to 132.76. The DXCM stock dipped slightly Thursday.

Chipotle, a stock on the IBD Leaderboard Watchlist, is now trading at a tight price after gaining remarkably. It has been added to the list with 2,000.88. The stock has also pulled back to its 10-week level, where it seems to have found support. A strong rebound from this level could also present a good buying opportunity. CMG stock lost 0.4% Thursday morning.

IBD SwingTrader McKesson stock is now in the buy zone after a cup-with handle entry of 401.53 during a 4-day winning streak. The top of the buy zone is 421.61. Early Thursday, shares were down slightly.

Roku, the streaming giant, is building a base of 75.45 with its buy point. This is despite the fact that Wednesday's stock loss streak extended to five sessions. Roku stock fell 0.4% in the early hours of Thursday.

Stock Market Rally: Best Stocks to Buy and Watch

Here are the four best stocks in today's market to watch and buy, including one Dow Jones leader.

ASML (ASML), 683.18 Cup With Handle
Salesforce (CRM) 200.00 Consolidation
Cloudflare (NET) 66.20 Double bottom
Roku (ROKU) 76.62 Cup base

Source: IBD Data As Of June 20, 2023

Tesla Stock

IBD Leaderboard's Tesla stock fell 5.5% on Wednesday following a downgrade by Barclays. The stock reversed lower after reaching a new high for 2023. The shares remain strongly extended above the 207.79 purchase point of a double bottom base. The shares closed Wednesday at a distance of 18% from their 52-week peak.

TSLA's stock was on the verge of adding to its losses Wednesday, but it turned positive, rising 0.5% in early morning trading Thursday following Morgan Stanley's downgrade and price-target hike.

Dow Jones Leaders - Apple and Microsoft

Apple, one of the Dow Jones stocks that fell Wednesday, moved 0.6% lower during the session. Shares reached a high of 186.99 last week. Stock continues to hold strongly above the 157.38 purchase point. AAPL's stock rose 1.1% in the early hours of Thursday.

Microsoft shares fell another 1.3% on Wednesday, dropping sharply for the third consecutive session. The stock reached a record-high of 351.47 last week. MSFT is still in the 20-25% profit zone, despite the recent losses. The stock was bought at a flat base of 276.76. Investors can therefore take some profits. On Thursday morning, Microsoft's shares were up 1%.