The stock market ended with decent gains Thursday, one day after the Fed decided to stand pat on interest rates, while also signaling that future rate hikes would be at a snail's pace.
Red Hat (RHT) gapped up after reporting its fourth straight quarter of accelerating sales growth, but the stock gave back early gains. Shares still rose nearly 4%, but Red Hat ended below an 81.91 entry. Shares of Yahoo (YHOO) edged higher, unfazed by news that 500 million accounts were hacked.
The Nasdaq gapped up to a fresh all-time high, rising 0.8%. The S&P 500 also gapped up, retaking its 50-day moving average along the way, rising 0.6%. The Dow Jones industrial average added 0.5%. Volume on the NYSE and Nasdaq was tracking higher than Wednesday's levels for a good part of Thursday's session, but trailed off by the close. Preliminary data showed volume coming in lower than Wednesday.
IBD's Mining-Metal Ores group popped 3% early amid a weak U.S. dollar, but the dollar fought back and the group was mostly unchanged near the close. Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) held up relatively in the group, rising 4%. It recently found support near 10 but is still below its 50-day moving average.
Several institutional-quality names scored nice gains, many in heavy volume. IBD 50 name Alibaba (BABA) rose 3% to its best level since the end of 2014 while Leaderboard member Amazon.com (AMZN) gained 1.9% to an all-time best. Alphabet (GOOGL), meanwhile, cleared an 813.98 flat-base entry. Shares rose 1.4% to 815.95, hitting a record high.
About half the names in the IBD 50 rose 1% or more.
In economic news, existing-home sales fell unexpectedly to an annualized rate of 5.33 million units in August. Separately, homebuilder Lennar (LEN) announced plans to buy smaller rival WCI Communities (WCIC) for $643 million, or $23.50 in cash and stock. Shares of WCI soared 38% to 23.67. Lennar added 0.3%.
In the stock market today, IPO e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) debuted in fine fashion, soaring 56% to 26.50 on its first day of trading. Shares priced last night at 17. JPMorgan was the lead underwriter. E.l.f.'s move comes on the heels of a big gain Wednesday for IPO Trade Desk (TTD). It closed at 30.10, well above its offering price of 18. The company provides ad agencies with a real-time bidding platform for online ads.
Papa John's (PZZA) added nearly 4% to 81.17 in solid volume. It's still in buy range from a 78.19 cup-with-handle buy point.
IBD'S TAKE: The restaurant group has been lagging in recent months, but the group is home to several strong performers. See who they are with IBD Stock Checkup.
Match Group (MTCH), the parent company of dating websites Match.com and Tinder, broke out over a 17.10 buy point, rising 6% to 17.62.
At the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude oil for November delivery settled at $46.32 a barrel, up 2.2%, after Iraq's OPEC governor said now is the "right time" for a production agreement among top producers.
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