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Dow Jones Today, Stocks Turn Mixed Amid Weak Global Trade; Apple, Nike, Walmart Price Hikes; Zoom Video Leads IBD 50

Stocks slipped, then pared early losses Monday, as concerns over coronavirus data pressured global markets. Analyst actions boosted a broad range of U.S. stocks including Splunk, Gap and The Trade Desk. Airlines and cruise lines took heavy early losses. Covid test kit maker Genmark nailed a breakout. Walmart led the Dow Jones today on an upgrade, while Nike and Apple rose on a price target hikes.

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The Dow industrials slumped 0.6% at the open, then pared back to a 0.1% loss. The S&P 500 also trimmed its loss to less than 0.1% on the stock market today. The Nasdaq shook off some early red ink and gained 0.2%, as Apple, Microsoft and all four FANG stock tech leaders gained ground.

On the Nasdaq, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) dropped 3.2%, feeling some pulldown from American Airlines Group (AAL), which dived more then 7% to the bottom of the S&P 500 after announcing plans to raise $3.5 billion through stock and bond sales. Nasdaq 100 stock Biogen (BIIB) fell 2.2%, after a downgrade from Barclays.

Splunk (SPLK) skipped up 2.1%, running just behind Zoom Video at the top of the Nasdaq 100. Wells Fargo ratcheted the database software leader's price target to 250, from 205, and kept its overweight rating.

Gap (GPS) led the S&P 500, up almost 6.5% after a big price target hike from Wells Fargo. Western Digital (WDC) moved up more than 2% after Benchmark boosted the stock to buy, from hold, with a price target at 60.

Point of sale systems maker Par Technologies (PAR) soared almost 6% to run near the top of the Russell 2000. Craig-Hallum cranked up the stock's price target to 40, from 30. The premarket move suggest shares would open just below a 30.20 buy point in a deep cup base.

Shares of Virgin Galactic (SPCE) jetted 13% higher after the company announced its had signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA to develop a private astronaut mission program.

Gear up for the week's market action by reading IBD's Investing Action Plan.

Med/Biotech Stocks, IBD 50: Genmark Breakout

Biotechs were on the radar Monday, with Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) slipping 1.1%, trading just below a flat base buy point at 295.65. Seattle Genetics (SGEN) dipped 1%, after ending Friday in a buy range, narrowly above a 168.20 buy point.

Coronavirus test kit maker Genmark Diagnostics (GNMK) rocketed 8% higher. The early move sent shares into a buy range above a 13.59 buy point in a seven-week cup base.

Among IBD 50 stocks, The Trade Desk (TTD) took over the lead from Chegg, rising 3.2% on a big price target hike from Needham. The report kept a buy rating on the stock, and boosted its price target to 475 from 370. The note said Trade Desk was well positioned to whether the coronavirus impact on ad sales, and called it the "largest demand side platform in the open internet."

Chegg (CHGG) popped 2.5%, positioning shares to continue a rebound from 10-week support. Zoom Video (ZM), which is stting on a four-week advance that has lifted the stock 35.7% in June, added 1.3% early Monday. Both Chegg and Zoom Video are notable coronavirus plays.

Dow Jones Today: Apple, Nike, Walmart Advance

Walgreens Boots AllianceWBA sank to the bottom of the Dow, off 2.5% in early trade.  American Express (AXP) dropped 1.5% after UBS downgraded the stock to sell, from neutral. Walmart (WMT) gained 0.7%. UBS upgraded the stock to buy, from neutral, and lifted its price target to 135 — 13% above where shares finished on Friday.

Apple stock rallied 1.2% after Cowen raised the stock's price target to 400, from 335. In addition, reports said that the company planned to release, either in the fourth quarter or early in 2021, its first MacBook Pro and iMac computers based on processors from ARM Ltd., a unit of Softbank (SFTBY). The official announcement could come this week at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference.

Nike stock jumped 0.9% on the Dow Jones today, boosted by price target hikes from UBS and Piper Sandler. UBS put its price target at 122 with a buy rating. Piper Sandler raised its target to 112 and kept an overweight rating on the stock.

Coronavirus Update: Global

Globally, new coronavirus cases increased more than 112,000 in the 24 hours to Monday morning, up 1.3% to more than 9.067 million. Another 3,543 persons died, lifting the death toll 0.8% to 471,027, according to Worldometer data. Cases among countries of the European Economic Area slipped just below 17% of the global total. Deaths in EEA countries were 37% of the total. U.S. cases were 26% of the worldwide total, and 26% of the deaths.

Brazil confirmed just under 17,000 new cases, down from last week's pace of more than 30,000 per day. India reported more than 10,000 new cases. Russia slowed below the 10,000 mark. New cases reported in Chile were down sharply. Daily changes in testing rates can have a large impact on the number of cases reported.

Coronavirus Update: U.S.— Testing, Active Cases Accelerate

The U.S. continued to confirm new cases at a high rate, adding more than 24,000 in the 24 hours to Monday morning.  That 1.1% increase boosted the U.S. number of cases reported since the start of the outbreak to above 2.356 million. Deaths slowed sharply, with 228 persons dying, and the deah toll rising less than 0.2% to 122,248.

Growth of new cases in New York and New Jersey held to below 0.2%. California's cases continued to spread at a 2% clip. States showing increases of between 2% and 3% included Texas, North Carolina, Utah, Arkansas, Nevada, Oregon and Montana. Among the states with the highest rates of growth, Florida was up 3.7%, South Carolina increased 3.8%, Oklahoma jumped 4.8% and Arizona reported a 5.2% increase, according to Worldometer data.


Join IBD experts as they analyze actionable stocks in the coronavirus stock market rally on IBD Live.


The COVID Tracking Project reported a firm increase in the rate of testing over the past three days, rising above 500,000 tests administered on all three days and setting a single-day record for tests performed – 583,940 – on Saturday. That boosted the 10-day average for testing above the 500,9000 mark for the first time on Saturday, with the average rising to 513,776 on Sunday.

Active cases continue to be the worrying number, as increased testing helped drive new record highs on Saturday and Sunday. Actives cases, which are infected patients either in hospitals or under supervised quarantine, surged 1.5% to above 1.254 million in Sunday. That indicates rising pressure on healthcare facilities and workers in states showing the highest rates of infection growth. The number had briefly peaked and began to fall after May 30. Sunday's active case tally was nearly 7% above the number marked on May 30.

Dow Jones Today: The 200-Day Impasse

As the market heads into the final full trading week for June and for the second quarter, a loss for the Dow Jones today would increase its losing streak to four days.  Meanwhile, the Nasdaq is sitting on a six-day advance – its gain on Friday was meager, but enough to push the index to a record weekly close.  The S&P 500 has been back-and-forth in the middle, alternating between gains and losses for the past four days.

The Nasdaq has staged an elegant rebound off its 21-day moving average, is trading well above support at its 50-day moving average and continues to send bullish signals for the stock market's confirmed uptrend. However, the Dow remains butted up against resistance at its 200-day line. At the small-cap end of the scale, the Russell 2000 is also caught up below 200-day support. The 50-day moving averages are rising on both the Dow and the Russell 2000, narrowing the margin between the 50- and 200-day lines, and pressuring the indexes to make a move one way or the other.

It's not yet clear what it will take to kick the Dow and Russell out of their current holding patterns. China trade, the coronavirus pandemic/economy and a looming presidential election all figure into the picture.  The Nasdaq has not posted seven consecutive gains since its 10-day run up in December. Technical indicators say the Nasdaq is sitting pretty, although it has yet to move decisively past 10,000. And the drama on which direction the Dow and the Russell 2000 will move is palpable.

For more detailed analysis of the current stock market and its status, study the Big Picture.

Bases, Buy Points On The Dow Jones Today

The Dow has seen a number of stocks break down below buy points recently. This has led to fractured base patterns for stocks including UnitedHealth Group (UNH), Visa (V) and Merck (MRK). At the same time, others have come into valid base settings.

Among those, Goldman Sachs (GS) has recovered from its bear market consolidation enough to form a handle on the deep dip with a 223.08 buy point. A handle on McDonald's (MCD) cup base puts a buy point at 202.83. Both handles straddle the stocks' 200-day moving averages.

The Dow Jones today also shows Apple (AAPL) is extended and raking in new highs. Microsoft (MSFT) finally logged a week of progress and is extended above its buy point at 180.10, and nearing the top of a buy range above a 187.51 alternative buy point.

Nike (NKE) and Cisco Systems (CSCO) are right now maybe the most breakout-eligible stocks on the index. Nike ended Friday around 9% below a 104.79 buy point in a cup-with-handle base. Cisco was a bit less than 7% below a handle buy point at 48.39.

Find Alan R. Elliott on Twitter @IBD_Aelliott

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