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Stocks Fight Back After Soft Start; IPO iRhythm Soars In Debut

Stocks fought back after early weakness in afternoon trading Thursday. (AP)

Major stock indexes were well off session lows Thursday afternoon as Wall Street weighed a mixed round of earnings reports.

American Express (AXP) was the Dow's top performer, soaring 10%, after reporting strong earnings late Wednesday, but Travelers (TRV) lagged badly, dropping 5%, also on earnings.

The Nasdaq composite, S&P 500 and the Dow were mostly unchanged with gains and losses of less than 0.1%. The Nasdaq was down as much as 0.6%. Volume on the Nasdaq was tracking about 10% higher than Wednesday's levels. Volume on the NYSE was slightly lower in the stock market today.

Early Thursday, the market's focus was on Europe after the European Central Bank left its key interest rates and its bond-buying stimulus program unchanged. ECB President Mario Draghi did say that risks to the eurozone's growth outlook remain "tilted to the downside."

The IPO market has cooled off, but iRhythm Technologies (IRTC) hit the ground running, soaring 55% to 26.29. The company priced last night at 17, above the proposed range of 13-15.

Heavy-volume gainers included Citrix Systems (CTXS). An earnings beat late Wednesday was the catalyst. Shares is having a wild day, reaching as high as 90 to briefly surpass an 89.60 buy point before reversing for a minor gain of just 0.3%.

After gapping above its 50-day moving average Wednesday on earnings, Steel Dynamics (STLD) reversed higher, rising 5% to 26.44. Its current consolidation shows a 28.11 buy point.

On the downside, HealthEquity (HQY) gave up 3% to 35.57 after the company priced a secondary share offering at 35.85.


IBD'S TAKE: HealthEquity has many qualities seen in past market winners before big price moves. A recent New America story on HealthEquity delved into factors driving the stock's price performance in recent months.


Tesla Motors (TSLA) gave up nearly 2% after the company announced Wednesday that all of its vehicles will have the hardware needed for full self-driving capability.

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