The selling continued in the Dow Jones Industrial Average Monday but the blue-chip index was nicely off lows in afternoon trading. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) was an early gainer in the Dow Jones today, but Coca-Cola (KO) faded after a strong start despite a strong Q1 earnings report.
X
Leaderboard stock Microsoft (MSFT) also outperformed in the Dow Jones today, up less than 1%, ahead of tomorrow’s earnings report. The Zacks consensus estimate is for adjusted profit of $2.18 a share, up 12% from the year-ago quarter. Revenue is seen rising more than 17% to $48.96 billion.
It’s a busy week of earnings from high-profile technology stocks Apple (AAPL), Google-parent Alphabet (GOOGL) and Amazon.com (AMZN). All three report late Thursday.
Money flowed into bonds Monday, sending the 10-year Treasury yield lower by 13 basis points to 2.77%.
Outside The Dow Jones
A sell-off in oil and gas stocks weighed on the S&P 500, which was down 0.7% after falling 1.7% intraday. Halliburton (HAL) and Schlumberger (SLB) were hit the hardest, down around 10% each. Both stocks gapped below their 50-day moving averages. The Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) gapped below its 50-day moving average, falling more than 5%.
Mosaic (MOS) plunged more than 5% in the S&P 500 today amid broad-based weakness in the fertilizer group. After slumping nearly 8% last week, the group was down another 5% Monday.
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Mosaic is battling for support at its 50-day moving average, along with group peers LSB Industries (LXU) and Nutrien (NTR).
The Nasdaq composite also moved off lows after falling 0.9% intraday. The index slumped 3.8% last week.
Also outside the Dow Jones, the Nasdaq 100 was helped by strength in security software stocks like Zscaler (ZS), CrowdStrike (CRWD), Fortinet (FTNT) and Palo Alto Networks (PANW).
CRWD stock found support near its 50-day moving average, but the stock’s 200-day line is still a potential resistance level to watch. The leader in the group is PANW stock, which is near highs while holding support at the 50-day line. Qualys (QLYS) also deserves respect in the group, with the stock only 5.5% off its all-time high 150.10.
IBD’s security software group was one of the day’s top performers, up around 2.5%. Strength in beaten-down enterprise software stocks helped fuel the group to a gain of around 1.5%.
Meanwhile, strong showings from Kohl’s (KSS) and Dillard’s (DDS) helped lift the department store group to a gain of nearly 5%.
Inside IBD Growth Screens
Silicon Motion Technology (SIMO) was a top performer in the MarketSmith Growth 250, up around 10%. Early Monday, Bloomberg reported the company is considering a sale amid increased takeover interest. SIMO makes flash controllers for solid-state storage devices.
Restaurant chain Dave & Buster’s (PLAY) also outperformed, up more than 3%. It’s near the top of a yearlong consolidation pattern, only 7% off its highs.
Follow Ken Shreve on Twitter @IBD_KShreve for more stock market analysis and insight.
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The post Dow Jones Storms Off Lows After 488-Point Drop; J&J Leads, But Chevron, Verizon Lag; Watch These Software Stocks appeared first on Investor’s Business Daily.