Stock Market Today: FANG Stocks Amazon, Alphabet Fuel Another New High For Nasdaq

Tech stocks took flight again Wednesday, helped by strength in two FANG stocks. In the stock market today, shares of Google-parent Alphabet (GOOGL) added nearly 2%, while Amazon.com (AMZN) rose nearly 3%, helped by positive comments from Morgan Stanley. Alphabet still has a bullish chart and is in buy range as it gets support at the 10-week moving average.

The Nasdaq composite and S&P 500 hit fresh highs with gains of 0.9% and 0.5%, respectively. The Russell 2000 small-cap index picked up 0.3%, and the Dow Jones industrial average lagged with a 0.2% gain. Apple (AAPL), Visa (V), Microsoft (MSFT) and Cisco Systems (CSCO) outperformed in the Dow with gains of around 1%.

The Nasdaq 100 also jumped to a new high, helped by strength in Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX). In the biotech space, Vertex boasts strong earnings growth in recent quarters. Technicals are also bullish. The stock topped a 183.49 buy point, but volume was light. Shares rose 2.5% to 185.45.

The stock market today served up other breakouts from the likes of Adobe Systems (ADBE), Mastercard (MA) and PayPal (PYPL).

In stock market results today, small-cap Shoe Carnival (SCVL) gapped up on strong earnings. The stock was off session highs, but shares still rose 12%. Shoe Carnival’s results come on the heels of a strong report from DSW (DSW) yesterday.

Other heavy-volume gainers included Medpace (MEDP), up 3%. The company is a contract research organization, providing outsourced clinical development services to the biotech, pharmaceutical and medical device industries. The stock has done a good job of holding gains since its July 31 gap-up in price. Shares were strong after the company reported a 61% rise in Q2 profit. Sales jumped 60% to $170.1 million.

Inside the IBD 50, ServiceNow (NOW) reclaimed a 194.91 flat-base entry after initially clearing the buy point on Monday. Shares were up more than 2% to 198.99. Fellow enterprise software name Salesforce.com (CRM), another top cloud-computing stock, reports earnings after the close today.

On the downside, Roku (ROKU) slumped more than 4% to around 60 on news that Amazon is planning an ad-supported free video app, similar to what Roku offers. Despite Wednesday’s heavy-volume decline, Roku is not flashing any sell signals as it holds comfortably above a 51.92 buy point. It’s currently seeking short-term support at the 10-day moving average.

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