The markets closed in the red yesterday after Joe Manchin wrecked Biden’s plans to Build Back Better and COVID fears prevailed. Some optimists still believe we’ll see a rally through the end of the year but overall the bearish cloud of doom has descended.
Manchin is reportedly meeting with Biden on Sunday to attempt to agree on a differently structured Build Back Better package.
The CDC says Omicron now accounts for more than 73% of new coronavirus cases, making it the dominant strain in the US.
European equity markets are higher and Asia showed strength overnight. Therefore US equities are expected to rebound in early trading.
Oil up. Gold down. Industrial metals gain. Cryptocurrencies higher.
| NASDAQ | S&P 500 | BITCOIN |
|---|---|---|
| 14,980.94 (-1.24%) | 4,568.02 (-1.14%) | 48,474.35 (+5.33%) |
Here are some trending stocks:
Supply chain constraints impact Nike (NYSE: NKE) sales again as factory closures weigh on inventories. It reiterates its fiscal 2022 revenue and Q3 revenue up slightly.
Moderna (NYSE: MRNA) said its COVID-19 booster provides a 37x increase in neutralizing antibodies against the Omicron variant. It plans to begin developing the booster in weeks.
Biogen (NASDAQ: BIIB) cut the cost of its Aduhelm treatment for Alzheimer's.
Sanofi (NASDAQ: SNY) is to acquire Amunix Pharma for $1bn. This will strengthen its immuno-oncology pipeline with next-generation Conditionally Activated Biologics.
Lithium stocks Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) and Livent Corp (NYSE: LTHM) declined yesterday after leftist Gabriel Boric won Chile’s presidential election. Chile has the world’s largest lithium reserves and Boric’s policies are likely to tighten environmental rules on lithium mining in the country.
Bluerock Residential Growth REIT (NYSEAMERICAN: BRG) is to be acquired by affiliates of Blackstone Real Estate for $24.25 a share. This is a cash deal valued at $3.6bn. Its stock price soared over 76%.
Rocket Companies (NYSE: RKT) may buy Truebill for $1.27bn in cash.
Neptune Energy awards Petrofac (LON: PFC) a two-year extension for work on Cygnus
Bloomberg reports Elliott Management and Vista Equity are considering a joint bid for Citrix Systems (NASDAQ: CTXS).
Ball Corporation (NYSE: BLL) plans to sell its Ball Metalpack joint venture to Sonoco Products Co (NYSE: SON) for $1.35bn in cash.
Last week ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ (BNPL) companies such as Affirm (NASDAQ: AFRM) and Afterpay (Block (NYSE: SQ)), Klarna, PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) and Zip (NYSE: ZIP) became subject to a Federal watchdog probe by The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. These stocks have declined but may bounce back as some believe the panic sell was premature.
Tour operator Carnival Corp (NYSE: CCL) provided encouragement with booking momentum for the second half of 2022 and first half of 2023.
The sinking of the Build Back Better Bill weighed on solar companies with concerns clean-energy spending will be reduced. Sunrun (NASDAQ: RUN) fell 8%.
Coherus Biosciences (NASDAQ: CHRS) announced FDA approval of Yusimry, a Humira biosimilar for certain arthritis, psoriasis, Crohn's disease, and colitis patients.
AMC Entertainment Holdings (NYSE: AMC) set new post-reopening domestic attendance records, including most tickets sold in a single day since Christmas 2019 thanks to the new Spiderman movie, which has become the biggest December opening of all time.
In Asia:
Didi Global is considering a Hong Kong listing.
China's NMPA has approved PD-L1 inhibitor sugemalimab injection to hit the market indicated for Non Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC).
In cryptocurrency news:
Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Binance Coin (BNB), Polkadot (DOT), Solana (SOL), XRP and Cardano (ADA) are all up.
The biggest token gainers over the past 24 hours are Mainstream For The Underground (MFTU), MYCE (YCE) and Nausicaa-Inu (NAUSICAA).
