Dow Jones futures fell Thursday evening, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures, after U.S. stock markets were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday. After Tuesday’s sell-off triggered a new or revived stock market correction, the major averages tried to bounce back Wednesday. The Nasdaq composite and S&P 500 index closed higher, but the Dow Jones faded to close down less than a point, as Dow components Apple (AAPL), Boeing (BA) and Intel (INTC) turned negative. However, three other Dow stocks — Microsoft (MSFT), Visa (V) and Cisco Systems (CSCO) — showed positive action.
Four Reasons To Watch Dow Stocks Microsoft, Visa, Cisco Systems
Microsoft stock, Visa stock and Cisco stock all three reclaimed their 200-day moving averages Wednesday.
Microsoft stock, Visa and Cisco all are working on potential bases, with their shares all roughly 10% off their highs.
Their relative strength lines, which tracks stocks’ performance vs. the S&P 500 index, are all near highs.
Microsoft and Cisco also enjoy a few quarters of accelerating earnings and sales growth, with cloud computing giving a big boost to Microsoft. Visa just broke a recent string of faster top- and bottom-line gains.
While Microsoft has held up reasonably well in the stock market correction, Apple stock and Amazon.com (AMZN) have tumbled. Microsoft stock now has a market cap of $791.49 billion. That’s $50 billion ahead of Amazon stock, at $741.63 billion. Apple stock is still the world’s most valuable company, but it’s market cap is now $839.41 billion.
Microsoft, Visa and Cisco stocks are worth watching, but they are not in a buy range. And it’s a stock market correction. Investors should wait until a new follow-through day confirms a rally attempt before getting off the sidelines.
Dow Jones Futures Today
Dow Jones futures fell 0.2% vs. fair value, but off from lows earlier in the day. S&P 500 futures retreated 0.3% and Nasdaq 100 futures lost 0.55%. Remember that Dow futures and other overnight action don’t necessarily translate in actual trading in the next regular session.
U.S. stock markets are closed for Thanksgiving. But not Asia and European stock markets were trading. By the time Friday’s half-day stock market session opens in New York, U.S. stocks will be playing catch-up for two days of global markets.
The nation’s malls and e-commerce sites will be busy Thanksgiving weekend, with consumers lining up for Black Friday doorbusters. But holiday sales are stretched over an ever-longer period and it’ll be unclear for weeks how strong Black Friday and the overall holiday shopping season turned out to be.
Stock Market Rally: Day 1
Stocks generally bounced back Wednesday, with the Nasdaq composite up 0.8%, the S&P 500 index 0.3% and the small-cap Russell 2000 1.3%. The Dow Jones was the stock market laggard, fading just into the red at the close. Apple stock and Intel stock helped provide that final drag on the Dow Jones, but Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) tumbled 3%, falling below a recent buy point.