Futures for the S&P 500 index, Nasdaq 100 and Dow Jones industrial average erased modest gains to turn slightly negative as European stock losses grew.
But five Dow industrials stocks are worth watching: Apple (AAPL), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Merck (MRK), Home Depot (HD) and American Express (AXP). All are in base-building mode, with several very close to buy points.
X All five Dow stocks pay a decent dividend, with American Express at a 1.6% dividend yield, Apple at 1.7%, JPMorgan and Home Depot at 2.3% and Merck at 2.9%.
Dow Jones industrial average futures retreated to fall nearly 0.2% below fair value. Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 0.1% and S&P 500 futures were just below break-even.
Apple
Apple is the world's most valuable company, and it's had a strong showing in 2017. The iPhone maker technically is in a flat base with a 156.75 buy point. But after trading tightly for several weeks, Apple plunged with many leading techs on June 9. The stock then fell again on June 10, closing below its 50-day moving average. Since then that key support line has acted as resistance, with shares edging down 0.2% to 145.63 on Thursday. Apple needs to retake the 50-day as a first step in building the right side of its consolidation.
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JPMorgan Chase
JPMorgan Chase is in a double-bottom base with an 89.23 buy point. Shares moved back above their 50-day line on June 9. JPMorgan Chase edged down 0.1% to 87.02 on Thursday. After the close, the Federal Reserve said JPMorgan and other big financials, passed their annual stress tests. Next week, the Fed will decide whether or not to approve banks' plans for dividend hikes and buybacks.
JPMorgan rose about 0.4% in premarket trading Friday.
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Merck
Biotechs have been soaring this week, with several breakouts. But traditional drug stocks are acting well too. Merck rose 0.9% to 66.02 on Thursday, up 4.8% so far this week. The Dow drug giant is closing in on a 66.90 buy point. Aggressive investors could have seen 65.68 as a potential early entry point.
Merck is benefiting from the success of its immuno-oncology drug Keytruda, which has been winning approvals for more cancers as rival treatments run into problems.
Home Depot
Home Depot is one of the few brick-and-mortar retailers to be acting well. The home improvement giant has been building a short flat base with a 160.96 buy point. The stock dipped briefly below its 50-day line on June 12 but rebounded the following session. Shares have pulled back in the last three sessions, edging down 0.7% to 155.48 on Thursday, but in lighter trade.
American Express
American Express technically cleared a flat-base buy point of 82.10 on Tuesday. But the gain was small and the volume just above average. Shares have done little since, rising 4 cents to 82.25 on anemic trade Thursday. Ideally, you want to see a stock power past a buy point in heavy volume. A solid gain in brisk trade would be encouraging, though you shouldn't chase a stock and buy it more than 5% beyond the buy point.
Overseas Markets
In Asian trading, Japan's Nikkei rose 0.1% while China's Shanghai composite gained 0.3%. In European trading intraday, the U.K.'s FTSE fell 0.6%, Germany's Dax lost 0.8% and France's CAC-40 dipped 0.6%.
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