Dow Jones Rallies As Biden, Xi Talk; Tesla Stock Races Higher

The Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly rallied 220 points Friday, as President Biden spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Affirm stock skyrocketed 20% on earnings. Apple looked to rebound from two days of losses, while Tesla stock raced higher in today’s stock market.

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Among the Dow Jones leaders, Apple (AAPL) traded up 0.8%, while Microsoft (MSFT) moved up 0.2% Friday. American Express (AXP) is tracing a new base, but is below a key technical level.

Tesla (TSLA) looked to extend a win streak to five sessions, briefly racing 1% higher Friday morning. The EV leader is in buy range past a new entry. PayPal (PYPL) traded 0.1% lower Friday, as it continues to offer a new buy point.

Among the top stocks to buy and watch, Palantir Technologies (PLTR), Semrush (SEMR), Shopify (SHOP) and Under Armour (UAA) are in or near new buy zones.

Microsoft and Tesla are IBD Leaderboard stocks. Semrush is an IBD IPO Leader. Under Armour is an IBD SwingTrader stock.

Dow Jones Today: China Talks

The Dow Jones Industrial Average backed out of opening gains and dropped 0.2% in morning trade Friday. The S&P 500 defended a fractional advance. The tech-heavy Nasdaq traded up 0.3% in morning trade.

President Joe Biden spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping by phone call on Thursday night for the first time since February. A White House statement said the “two leaders discussed the responsibility of both nations to ensure competition does not veer into conflict.”

Among exchange traded funds, the Innovator IBD 50 (FFTY) gained 0.2% Friday. Nasdaq 100 tracker Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ) moved up 0.35%. Meanwhile, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) etched out narrow gains.

Stock Market Rally Continues

The Nasdaq rallied closer to this week’s new highs, while the S&P 500 looked to snap a four-day losing streak Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is again testing its key 50-day moving average line.

Thursday’s The Big Picture column commented, “The Aug. 4 distribution day on the S&P 500 was removed from the overall count due to time. With a still-modest amount of institutional selling, investors should remain optimistic about the current uptrend. But don’t be complacent. Wednesday’s Big Picture discussed the importance of analyzing your current holdings for signs of weakness.”

Stock Market Earnings: Affirm

Consumer financing firm Affirm (AFRM) reported strong June-quarter revenue and gross merchandise volume that topped expectations as its expanding merchant base overcame slowing growth.

AFRM stock skyrocketed 20% in morning trade. Shares remain about 25% off their all-time high.

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