The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied strongly as Russia’s President Vladimir Putin tightened his grip on Ukraine. Etsy (ETSY) and Block (SQ), formerly Square, exploded on earnings beats. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and 3M (MMM) were the top blue chips.
A trio of stocks made noteworthy bullish moves. Boyd Gaming (BYD), Nucor (NUE) and cybersecurity stock Check Point (CHKP) all either broke out or retook correct buy points.
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Oanda senior market analyst Ed Moya told Investor’s Business Daily that money managers are growing confident the war in Ukraine will be contained and that the chances of a military conflict with the West have declined. In addition, it has raised the chances the Fed will be less aggressive in interest rate rises.
“Wall Street has shifted the focus to next week’s Fed Chair Powell testimony to Congress and given the fluid developments with the Ukraine-Russia crisis, expectations are growing for the Fed to push back on aggressive tightening calls,” he said.
Putin Tightens Grip in Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Fighting was intensifying in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. Russian troops have captured a nearby airbase while explosions have been heard in the city.
The Kremlin had signalled it is willing to send a delegation to the Belarusian capital of Minsk to hold talks with Ukraine.
State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters diplomacy should take place “at the barrel of a gun.”
Nevertheless, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has offered to discuss neutral status for Ukraine, though the location of talks could pose a problem.
Putin is demanding a binding agreement that Ukraine will give up attempts to become part of NATO.
Nasdaq Gains As Small Caps Roar
The Nasdaq lagged the other major indexes but still closed up 1.6%. MercadoLibre (MELI) was a top performer as it gained more than 7%.
The S&P 500 also impressed as it finished the session with a gain of 2.2%. Dish Network (DISH) was a big winner here as it popped around 11%.
U.S. Stock Market Today Overview |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Index | Symbol | Price | Gain/Loss | % Change |
| Dow Jones | (0DJIA) | 34058.55 | +834.72 | +2.51 |
| S&P 500 | (0S&P5) | 4384.62 | +95.92 | +2.24 |
| Nasdaq | (0NDQC ) | 13694.62 | +221.03 | +1.64 |
| Russell 2000 | (IWM) | 202.50 | +4.46 | +2.25 |
| IBD 50 | (FFTY) | 37.58 | +1.04 | +2.85 |
| Last Update: 4:08 PM ET 2/25/2022 | ||||
The S&P sectors all ended the day in the green. Materials and financials were the top areas. Technology and communication services made the slimmest gains.
Small caps bulls also roared back, with the Russell 2000 jumping nearly 2.3%.
But it was growth stocks that gave bears the harshest blow. The Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY), a bellwether for growth stocks, ended the day up 2.9%.
Dow Jones Today: JNJ Makes Strong Move
The Dow Jones Industrial Average enjoyed its best day of 2022 so far as it rose more than 800 points, or 2.5%.
Johnson & Johnson was the biggest gainer as it surged 5%. The relative strength line is now gaining some momentum.
The healthcare play is now sitting withing striking distance of its 200-day and 50-day moving averages, according to MarketSmith analysis.
Diversified industrial conglomerate 3M also put in a good showing as it popped 4.8% in solid volume. The stock has been stuck in a prolonged downtrend for weeks and remains well shy of its major moving averages.
Walt Disney (DIS) was the worst performer but ended the day virtually flat.
Etsy Stock, Block Explode
Etsy was one of the top performers on the stock market today following its earnings report. It closed with a gain of more than 16%.
It was boosted after posting adjusted earnings of $1.11 a share on revenue of $717.1 million. Wall Street had been expecting EPS of 79 cents on revenue of $684.5 million.
Active sellers on Etsy, a key metric, popped 72% to reach 7.5 million. Active buyers rose 17.6% to 96.3 million.
Etsy stock closed the day up %. It comes hot on the heels of the stock making an 18-month low this week. Needham analyst Anna Andreeva maintained a buy rating on Etsy stock with a price target of 280.
Payments stock Block, formerly known as Square, ended the day up 26%. Despite the powerful move it is still trading sharply below its 50-day moving average.
It was given a strong boost after it reported Q4 earnings, net revenue and gross payment volume that came in above Wall Street expectations.
A highlight was the performance of Cash App. It had 44 million active monthly users at the end of December, up from 40 million in June.
“Despite consternation heading in, Cash App gross profit of $518 million, up 37% year-over-year, was 2% ahead of the Street,” Jefferies analyst Trevor Williams said in a research note.
These Stocks Make Bullish Moves
Casino stock Boyd Gaming made a noteworthy move as it moved back above a double-bottom base buy point of 67.09. It closed the day up 2.7%.
Big money has been buying the stock of late, which is a positive. It has won a spot on the prestigious IBD Leaderboard list of top stocks.
Nucor also impressed as it rebounded above a 126.77 double-bottom base entry. It finished with a gain of 7.6%.
The steel stock has seen its RS line reach new heights while earnings are also particularly strong. This stock is another new position on Leaderboard.
Cybersecurity stocks have been given a boost by the Ukraine conflict. And Check Point made a bullish move by breaking out of a consolidation pattern on its weekly chart. It closed with a 1.9% gain.
The relative strength line hit a new high while it is now around 16% clear of its 40-week line. Institutional investors have been piling into the stock in recent weeks.
Please follow Michael Larkin on Twitter at @IBD_MLarkin for more on growth stocks and analysis.
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The post Dow Jones Surges As Putin Tightens Grip On Ukraine; Etsy Explodes; 3 Stocks Make Bullish Moves appeared first on Investor’s Business Daily.
