US markets are closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Day, though that hasn’t stopped market news from trickling out.
Earnings season will be on us once again when markets reopen on Tuesday, with investors keeping a keen eye on trends in the results. Some big hitters, such as Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), will be reporting results later this week.
In the meantime, Brent Crude and WTI were both holding their ground as demand remains strong, though suppliers have not been as impacted by Omicron as had been initially feared.
| NASDAQ | S&P500 | Bitcoin |
|---|---|---|
| 14,893.75 (+0.59%) | 4,662.85 (+0.08%) | 42,801.39 (-0.24%) |
Here is some of the biggest market news:
Shares in Unilever (NYSE: UL) have dropped after the company saw three separate bids for the consumer healthcare arm of GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) rejected. GSK said the offers, which included one worth around $68bn, had “fundamentally failed” to reflect the value of the division, but Unilever will reportedly make further bids.
Tata Motors (NYSE: TTM) has announced its plans to get in on the electric vehicle market. The carmaker says it wants to produce 50,000 electric vehicles in the next financial year.
Darktrace (LON: DARK) is in the red as the cybersecurity company has found itself subject to the attentions of short seller ShadowFall, which has said Darktrace will not “stand the test of time”, according to The Telegraph.
Walmart (NYSE: WMT) has no plans to be left behind by the metaverse, with reports from the weekend noting that the retail giant’s recent trademark applications indicate that it is steering towards the release of its own cryptocurrency and NFTs.
Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX) has seen its COVID-19 vaccine approved by French health authorities.
Credit Suisse Group’s (NYSE: CS) CEO Antonio Horta-Osorio has stepped down after an internal investigation found he breached COVID restrictions on multiple occasions.
Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) chief financial officer, Colette Kress, has said she expects GPU shortages to lessen in the second half of the year, though she noted that demand “continues to remain strong and stronger than our overall supply that we have”.
In Asia:
Las Vegas Sands (HKG: 1928), Wynn Macau (HKG: 1128) and Melco Resorts (HKG: 0200) were all in the green after the Macau government agreed to extend their licenses to operate in the autonomous region.
Asian stocks have largely held steady, taking their lead from China. Newly released economic data from the Far Eastern superpower showed industrial output is on the rise but retail sales still fell short of expectations.
In cryptocurrency:
Cut price mining machines have flooded the market in Kosovo after the Eastern European nation announced plans to limit crypto mining in order to alleviate pressure on its energy grid.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has started accepting payments for merchandise in Dogecoin (DOGE), leading the memecoin to rise.
Meanwhile, Cardano (ADA) has soared, with its price increasing by over 12% in the last 24 hours.
Singapore has moved to ban crypto businesses from advertising in public spaces, though they are still permitted to advertise online.
