Stocks opened lower, then turned mixed Wednesday as the Nasdaq moved to snap a four-day advance and the S&P 500 fought to avert a third straight decline. Tesla jumped on solid August sales in China. Perrigo, Global Payments and PayPal Holdings all moved on acquisition news. Upstart, an initial public offering, rallied on a price target hike. Bitcoin held its ground after suffering heavy losses on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Walt Disney pushed past Chevron to lead the Dow Jones today.
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The Dow industrials opened lower, then quickly reversed to a 0.2% gain on the stock market today. The S&P 500 tightened to a fractional loss. The Nasdaq Composite pulled back 0.3%, after taking a handful of new highs in a modest four-day advance. The S&P 500 has slipped for two straight days, but finished Wednesday only a half percent off its Thursday peak.
IBD Leaderboard stocks Tesla (TSLA) trimmed its opening advance to 0.2% after the China Passenger Car Association reported company sales of China-made vehicles jumped 34% in August. PayPal Holdings (PYPL), also a Leaderboard listing, reversed its opening gain and dipped 0.1%. The e-commerce leader announced it would pay $2.7 billion to acquire payments platform Paidy.
Virtualization software innovator Citrix Systems (CTXS) soared nearly 6% to lead the S&P 500. Activist hedge fund Elliott Management holds a stake of more than 10% in the company, valued at more than $1.3 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. The fund is reportedly agitating for management to boost the stock’s value.
Also on the S&P 500, Perrigo (PRGO) rallied 5.4% after sealing a $2.1 deal to buy consumer products maker HRA Pharma. Global Pyaments (GPN) sailed 4.3% higher, after agreeing to pay $500 million for automated accounts payable brand MineralTree.
AI-driven lending platform Upstart Holdings (UPST) led the IBD 50 list in early trade. Shares jumped around 3.3% as Piper Sandler held the stock’s overweight rating and raised its price target from 191 to 300 — about 15% above where shares ended on Tuesday. Upstart stock is five weeks into an eight-week hold rule.
The Labor Department delivers its monthly Job Opening And Labor Turnover Survey at 10 a.m. ET. The Federal Reserve is due to release its September Beige Book Report at 2 p.m. ET, and July consumer credit data at 3 p.m. ET.
Companies scheduled to report after today’s close include Lululemon Athletica (LULU), RH (RH), HP (HPQ), meme stock GameStop (GME) and auto salvage leader Copart (CPRT).
Dow Jones Today: Apple Target Hike, Chevron Chases Oil
Chevron (CVX) wrestled 3M (MMM) for the early lead on the Dow Jones today. Chevron gained 1.1% as oil prices jumped. West Texas Intermediate futures rose 1.4%, attempting to snap a two-day slide, trading above $69 a barrel. Prices retreated this week from a test of resistance around the $70 level.
Multiple sources cited various reasons for Wednesday’s price gain. Reuters assigned the increase to a slow recovery of U.S. offshore…
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