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A rough start to the day has quickly been forgotten
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) has bounced back from a triple-digit drop out of the gate, and was last seen up triple digits around midday. Traders may be responding to Friday's weak nonfarm payrolls report with a risk-on mentality, feeling it may lead to a delay in an interest-rate hike. A cooling dollar is likely also contributing to today's sharp reversal. Elsewhere on the economic front, the Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) non-manufacturing index was roughly in line with expectations. Also, both crude and gold were sharply higher at last check.
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Among the stocks with notable call activity is Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ), with the contracts changing hands at 13 times the usual intraday rate. The most popular contract by far is the April 120 call, with data giving the impression of buy-to-open activity. At last check, STZ was 1.8% higher at $119.90, after earlier touching an all-time peak of $120.24.
For more midday statistics and stocks on the move, head to page 2.
Biotech name Vitae Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:VTAE) is one of the biggest advancers on the Nasdaq, last seen 16% higher at $14.71. The equity could still be benefiting from a price-target hike to $19 at JMP Securities last week. Still, year-to-date, VTAE is off 11.6%.
One of the biggest losers on the Nasdaq today is Digital Ally, Inc. (NASDAQ:DGLY). The video surveillance specialist has dropped 8.2% to trade at $12.56, after a "big announcement" over the weekend failed to impress. It's a change of pace for a stock that has outperformed the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by over 27 percentage points in the past two months.
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is down 0.04 point, or 0.3%, at 14.63.
Today's put/call volume ratio on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is 2.21, with traders showing a strong preference for puts over calls. SPY was last seen up 1.5 points, or 0.7%, at $207.63.