Over 45,000 new coronavirus cases were confirmed on Wednesday
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) are down over 200 points below fair value this morning, poised to extend yesterday's losses due to the ever-increasing worries concerning the resurgence of COVID-19. Over 45,000 new cases were confirmed on Wednesday
-- surpassing the April 26 record high by 9,000 -- with states such as Texas, Florida, California, and Arizona seeing a higher influx.
Nasdaq-100 (NDX) and S&P 500 (SPX) futures are also in the red, with Wall Street also weighed down by the announcement of 1.5 million new jobless claims last week, higher than the 1.3 million expected and over 1 million
for the 14th week straight. If there's one silver lining, it's the total number of people collecting state unemployment insurance coming in at 19.5 million, down from around 25 million in early May. Furthermore, investors are also unpacking the final
reading of first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP), which showed the U.S. economy contracted by 5%, on par with its revised reading.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Rite Aid stock has a
history of making outsized post-earnings moves.
- Cruise stock falls on "low demand"
downgrade.
- Plus, biotech stock signs billion-dollar deal; ALLY calls off proposed acquisition; and Accenture posted a positive quarterly report.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 1.4 million call contracts traded on Wednesday, and 868,932 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.63, and the 21-day moving average rose to 0.50.
- AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) is in focus this morning after signing a drug discovery partnership worth up to $1 billion with Japanese pharmaceutical company Sosei Group. Following the news, RBC raised its price target to $125 from $102.
Down 0.3% before the bell, ABBV is up 40% in the last three months, recently hitting new highs.
- Ally Financial Inc (NASDAQ:ALLY) is up 7.9% in electronic trading, after the banking company called off its proposed acquisition of CardWorks last night. Both parties agreed to the cancellation due to the impact of coronavirus. In
response, Piper Sandler and Credit Suisse hiked their price targets to $27 and $29, respectively. Though up 26% for the quarter, ALLY is still down 40% year-to-date heading into today.
- Accenture PLC (NYSE:ACN) is up 3.2% pre-market, after the I.T. company's third-quarter earnings and revenue topped analyst forecasts. Growing digital and cloud services are attributed for the upbeat report. With help from
the 20-day moving average,
the stock is up 32.9% in the last three months, and has a chance to take out its year-to-date breakeven level today.
- Today will bring durable goods orders, core capital orders, international trade data, and the revised first-quarter GDP reading. Earnings reports from Nike will be on tap.
Stocks Fall in Asia, Post Tepid Rise in Europe
Stocks in Asia took a dive today, after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) once again cut its economic forecasts. South Korea’s Kospi lost the momentum it built yesterday, finishing today 2.3% lower. Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei was off 1.2%,
while markets in China and Hong Kong were closed for holiday.
On the other hand, European stocks are brushing off the IMF’s update and are mostly rising this afternoon. Dismissing Wirecard’s insolvency filing after the company noted $2.1 billion missing from its balance sheet, France’s CAC and
the German DAX were both last seen up 0.2%, with the latter rising as shares of Lufthansa (LHA) surged 15%. Meanwhile, London’s FTSE 100 was last seen off 0.2%.