The Dow is slightly above breakeven this afternoon
Stocks are higher today, but it's likely a little too late for the three major indexes to avoid weekly losses. Both the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) are firmly higher midday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is just above breakeven.
After jobs data hinted at a red-hot labor market and spiked bond yields, the Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) services index dropped to 50.6% from 52.7% in November. Elsewhere, Wall Street's "fear gauge," the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) turned lower and is poised to snap a three-day win streak.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Retail stock could be a bull note target.
- Analyst: Palantir's AI impact is overblown.
- Plus, JBLU bulls emerge; a cruise stock bounces; and HUM lags behind.
JetBlue Airways Corp (NASDAQ:JBLU) is seeing an uptick in call volume today, with 39,000 calls changing hands already, volume that's double the average intraday amount and more than double the number of puts traded. Most of the attention is on the January 7 call, notable because JBLU is up 4.8% to trade at $5.58 at last check.
Carnival Corp (NYSE:CCL) is one of the better stocks on the SPX today, up 2.9% to trade at $17.34 after Wells Fargo upgraded the cruise name to "overweight" from "equal-weight." CCL is 94.3% higher year-over-year, with recent support from its 40-day moving average containing the 2024 pullback.
Sitting out today's rally is Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM) stock, last seen down 2.6% to trade at $454.13. While there's no specific catalyst, the healthcare stock saw a price-target cut to $531 from Bernstein and a price-target hike to $573 from Jefferies. HUM is 6% lower in the last 12 months.