The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 450 points Thursday in the wake of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's speech, as the 10-year Treasury yield spiked back above 1.5%. Tesla stock dived 7%, while DraftKings briefly jumped on a deal with the UFC before reversing lower.
Among the Dow Jones leaders, Apple (AAPL) fell over 1% Thursday, while Microsoft (MSFT) moved down 0.3% in today's stock market. Visa (V) is in buy range above a new buy point.
Tesla (TSLA) looked to extend Wednesday's 4.8% drop, diving 7% Thursday. IBD Leaderboard stock DraftKings (DKNG) jumped as much as 3.5% before reversing sharply lower after announcing a deal with the UFC.
After the stock market close Wednesday, Marvell Technology (MRVL) reported mixed results, sending shares diving to its 200-day moving average.
Among the top stocks to watch, Flagstar Bancorp (FBC) and T. Rowe Price (TROW) are in or near buy zones in the current stock market pullback.
DraftKings, Microsoft and Tesla are IBD Leaderboard stocks. Flagstar was Wednesday's IBD Stock Of The Day, while T. Rowe was the IBD 50 Stocks To watch pick.
Dow Jones Today: Powell Speech, 10-Year Treasury Yield
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 1.5%, while the S&P 500 traded down 1.7%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq sold off 2.5% in afternoon trade.
Powell said Thursday that he expects economic reopening to cause inflation, but the price increases likely won't be significant enough to make the central bank hike interest rates. Powell's comments came at the Wall Street Journal Jobs Summit.
"We expect that as the economy reopens and hopefully picks up, we will see inflation move up through base effects," Powell commented. "That could create some upward pressure on prices."
Following the comments, the 10-year Treasury yield spiked to session highs at 1.548% before easing. The 10-year Treasury yield briefly topped 1.6% last week.
U.S. Stock Market Today Overview |
| Index | Symbol | Price | Gain/Loss | % Change |
| Dow Jones | (0DJIA) | 31310.61 | +40.52 | +0.13 |
| S&P 500 | (0S&P5) | 3823.77 | +4.05 | +0.11 |
| Nasdaq | (0NDQC ) | 12970.91 | -26.84 | -0.21 |
| Russell 2000 | (IWM) | 216.99 | -2.33 | -1.06 |
| IBD 50 | (FFTY) | 43.84 | -1.57 | -3.46 |
Last Update: 11:22 AM ET 3/4/2021 |
Among exchange traded funds, the Innovator IBD 50 (FFTY) traded down 4.9% Thursday. Nasdaq 100 tracker Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ) fell 1.4%. Meanwhile, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) moved down 1.1%.
Stock Market Pullback Continues
Looking back at the current uptrend, November was a key month for the stock market. IBD's The Big Picture flagged the new uptrend following the market's bullish follow-through day on Nov. 4. Meanwhile, the start of March has the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Nasdaq and S&P 500 struggling to hold above key support levels.
Wednesday's IBD Big Picture cautioned, "The stock market didn't look too bad Wednesday if your focus was on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. But if your attention was squarely focused on the Nasdaq, the stock market looked downright awful as leading growth stocks sold off again."
Amid the stock market pullback, investors should play more defense than offense. Avoid new breakouts, unless they're exceptional, and make sure to sell any stock that falls more than 7% below your purchase price. Remember, you don't have to wait for the 7%-8% loss signal if the stock is clearly not acting well.
Focus on stocks that show strong relative strength during the current weakness. They could be some of the market's leaders if the indexes are able to continue their rebounds.