Stock Market Today: Nasdaq Pops as Tesla, Coinbase Stocks Soar

A busy week started with a bang for at least one of the three major market indexes. 

While today was quiet on the economic and earnings fronts – both heat up later this week with the December consumer price index (CPI) on Thursday and big banks reporting Q4 results on Friday – there was plenty of single-stock news to mull over. This included an impressive rally for Tesla (TSLA) and a major rebound in one cryptocurrency-related stock. 

Tesla stock soared 5.9% Monday, bringing its three-day gain to 8.5%. Justin Mcqueen, market specialist at Capital.com, points to some buy-the-dip action among investors as the reason for TSLA's recent pop. "December was a torrid month for Tesla, which saw its shares fall by more than 35%, in part due to tax-loss selling activity," Mcqueen says. "But based on Capital.com's recent data, traders are increasingly buying up TSLA again. They have begun to use Tesla's sizable dip to pile back into the shares." 

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Another big mover today was Coinbase (COIN), which jumped 15.1% after Jefferies analyst Trevor Williams initiated coverage of the cryptocurrency exchange platform. Williams started COIN at Hold, saying near-term trading volumes will likely be hurt by the "industry-wide fallout from FTX's collapse." Still, the analyst believes "COIN's premium brand, position as an onshore/regulated entity, scale, and healthy balance sheet" will help it weather the storm.

Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) also saw a sizable move, climbing 23.7%. BBBY shares took a big tumble last week after the home goods retailer warned it is exploring strategic options – including a potential bankruptcy filing – amid cash flow problems. The company also said it expects to report year-over-year declines in net income and revenue in its fiscal third quarter. BBBY will unveil its full fiscal Q3 results ahead of tomorrow's open.  

As for the major indexes, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.6% to 10,635. The broader S&P 500, however, fell 0.1% to 3,892 and the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 0.3% lower at 33,517, hurt by weakness in healthcare stocks Johnson & Johnson (JNJ, -2.6%) and Merck (MRK, -3.9%). 

Best Energy Stocks to Buy

Oil prices were another pocket of strength Monday, with U.S. crude futures climbing 1.2% to $74.63 per barrel – their third straight gain. 

"Crude prices are rallying as China’s borders open, refiners get big quotas, and as the dollar slides," says Edward Moya, senior market strategist at currency data provider OANDA. "Chinese hopes for an improving reopening from Covid could help propel oil prices much higher. Oil's downward trend was approaching critical support, so energy traders were eagerly looking for any reason to jump back into the oil trade." 

Continued gains in crude oil futures will certainly benefit the best energy stocks. Select energy exchange-traded funds (ETFs) should get a lift too.