IBM shares fall for a second straight session on Wednesday, tech company to add 1 800 new jobs in France in two years

International Business Machines (IBM) will add about 1 400 new jobs in France during the upcoming two years, the tech giant announced on Wednesday. The new hirings are to encompass fields such as cloud computing, blockchain as well as internet of things.

IBM shares closed lower for a second consecutive trading session on Wednesday. The stock edged down 0.29% ($0.42) to $144.67, after touching an intraday low at $143.48, or a price level not seen since May 16th ($143.27).

In the week ended on May 20th the shares of the tech giant lost a mere 0.04% of their market value compared to a week ago, which marked the fifth drop out of eleven weeks.

The stock has neutralized earlier gains and is now down 0.20% so far during the current month, following a 5.52% slump in April. The latter has been a third consecutive month of losses.

For the entire past year, the shares of the NYSE-listed tech company retreated 7.57%, following a 20.61% surge in 2016.

The new jobs come on top of another 400 new hirings in the field of artificial intelligence, which IBM has already announced in France.

IBMs initiative to add new jobs and invest in training was announced by the companys Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ginni Rometty, along with the Tech for Good Summit in Paris, hosted by Frances President Emmanuel Macron.

“President Macron is making a big bet, and a smart one, that AI is going to transform every job, every profession and every industry”, IBMs Chief Executive was quoted as saying by PR Newswire.

“At IBM, we share this belief and see evidence of it every day with Watson driving exponential impact here in France and around the world. That is why we are bringing 1,800 new jobs to France to meet growing demand for AI from our clients”, Rometty added.

According to CNN Money, the 20 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding IBM’s stock price, have a median target of $169.00, with a high estimate of $200.00 and a low estimate of $125.00. The median estimate is a 16.82% surge compared to the closing price of $144.67 on May 23rd.

The same media also reported that 14 out of 24 surveyed investment analysts had rated IBM’s stock as “Hold”, while 7 – as “Buy”. On the other hand, 2 analysts had recommended selling the stock.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, todays levels of importance for the IBM stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $144.78
R2 – $144.89
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $145.01
R4 (Long Breakout) – $145.34
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $145.73
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $145.90

S1 – $144.56
S2 – $144.45
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $144.33
S4 (Short Breakout) – $144.00
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $143.61
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $143.44

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for International Business Machines (IBM) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $144.06
R1 – $145.21
R2 – $146.33
R3 – $147.48
R4 – $148.62

S1 – $142.94
S2 – $141.79
S3 – $140.67
S4 – $139.54