Dow Jones Down Amid Fed Official Demand; Tesla Dips After Elon Musk

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell after a senior Federal Reserve official said a policy change is due. Salesforce.com (CRM) was the top blue chip as it surged into a buy zone on earnings. Tesla (TSLA) dipped despite CEO Elon Musk sharing a surprise on the company’s self-driving technology.

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Meanwhile a couple of stocks tried to stage breakouts, despite the challenging action. Devon Energy (DVN) and Williams-Sonoma (WSM) both passed buy points, but Williams-Sonoma faded.

Stocks were falling after Dallas Federal Reserve President Robert Kaplan said he wants to see the Fed announce next month that it will begin scale back on bond purchases. The senior Fed official said he is worried about inflation and risk-taking.

“Based on everything I’ve seen, I don’t see anything at this point that would cause me to materially change my outlook,” Kaplan told CNBC. “It would continue to be my view that when we get to the September meeting, we would be well served to announce a plan for adjusting purchases and begin to execute that plan in October or shortly thereafter.”

He spoke as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell gets set to speak at a summit Friday.

Nasdaq; S&P 500 Fall From Records

The Nasdaq was down 0.4%, losing ground on a record high. Analog Devices (ADI) was the top Nasdaq performer, rising about 2.5%. Dollar Tree (DLTR) was by far the biggest loser, slipping almost 12% on a disappointing earnings report. It gapped below the key 50-day moving average.

The S&P 500 was down just slightly more than the Nasdaq. Here the big winner was Etsy (ETSY), which rose almost 6%. Outside Dollar Tree, its worst performer was Autodesk (ADSK), which was down more than 8%.

The S&P sectors were bleeding red, with real estate the only area making headway. Communication services and utilities performed worst.

Small caps were getting mauled by the bears, with the Russell 2000 falling about 0.9%. It fell more than 2% last week.

Growth stocks were being punished, with the Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) down 0.6%.

Dow Jones Today: Salesforce.com Stock Surges

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was also down 0.4%, and was near session lows.

Salesforce.com stock was the top performer on the Dow Jones today. While it pared some gains, it was up around 4.5%. It is a buy zone from a long pattern, according to MarketSmith.

The enterprise software stock was boosted after it posted Q2 earnings and guidance that was better than analysts expected. The firm’s sales were also up by 23% year-over-year, which matched the previous quarter’s growth.

Tesla Stock Falls Despite Elon Musk Surprise

Tesla stock slipped despite that CEO Elon Musk sprung a surprise by…