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Nasdaq At New High; S&P 500, Dow Rise Back Above Key Level

X A powerful rebound Monday that left the Nasdaq at a new high and hefted the Dow industrials and S&P 500 back above the 50-day moving average for the first time since April 11 was only the start of the action.

The Nasdaq vaulted 1.2%, while the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.1%. Small caps slightly outpaced the general action, with the Russell 2000 notching a 1.3% gain.

Up next is an after-hours reporting session with earnings reports from Whirlpool (WHR), Barrick Gold (ABX) and Range Resources (RRC), setting the tone for a week jammed with economic and political news, and in which more than 190 S&P 500 and a dozen Dow-listed stocks are set to report earnings. Alcoa (AA) was up 1% in extended trading following its results. Express Scripts (ESRX) also announced results and was unchanged.

The first-round presidential vote in France on Sunday set up a second round between far-right-wing candidate Marine Le Pen and centrist challenger Emmanuel Macron, scheduled for May 7.  Macron's victory and his strength in polls ahead of the second-round vote eased some investor concerns that France was headed for an exit from the European Union, a move that could threaten the union.

Stocks also received a boost from the White House, where news reports said President Trump had called for a tax plan by Wednesday that prioritized trimming the corporate tax rate to 15% over holding down the deficit.  Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn are scheduled to meet with key GOP congressional leaders to discuss the plan on Tuesday, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The combined result sent steel makers, banks and miners soaring. JPMorgan (JPM) led the Dow Jones industrial average with a  nearly 4% gain. Goldman Sachs (GS) jumped 3% and Caterpillar (CAT) climbed nearly 3%.

Fiber-optic telecom stocks also outpaced the general market, led by Infinera (INFN) and Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI). Both stocks are not near valid buy points.

C.R. Bard (BCR) easily topped the S&P 500, spiking 20% after reporting first-quarter earnings as news broke that the company would be acquired by Becton Dickinson (BDX) in a deal valued at $24 billion. Becton slumped 4%, hurt by a downgrade to credit watch negative, due to financial risk associated with the Bard deal, from Standard & Poor's.

Hasbro (HAS) thrashed out a 6% gain following strong first-quarter results, seizing a new high and narrowly topping a 101.18 buy point in a flat base. Shares remained in a buy range.

Dell Technologies (DVMT) popped 3% in strong trade, enough to take a new high and clear a flat-base buy point of 65.88.  The IBD Leaderboard and Swing Trader Stock is up 31% since its breakout from a cup-with-handle base in November.

Oil and gold both dropped almost 1% during the session, but miners and energy stocks fared reasonably well. Among Nasdaq stocks, Biomarin Pharmaceuticals (BMRN) and Xylinx (XLNX) led, up more than 5% each. Xylinx ended just below a double-bottom base buy point of 60.91.

Micron Technology (MU) took the Nasdaq's hardest hit, down a bit less than 3% in strong trade. The memory-chip maker ended 11% below its late-March high and is still holding support at its 10-week moving average.

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