Gilead Sciences announced possible COVID-19 treatment efficacy
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is up over 180 points at midday, after a morning spent in the red, amid news of a potential coronavirus treatment. Specifically, Gilead Sciences (GILD) announced its COVID-19 treatment, remdesivir, “was associated with an improvement in clinical recovery and a 62 percent reduction in the risk of mortality compared with standard of care.” Meanwhile, the S&P 500 (SPX) is also tacking on modest midday gains, though the Nasdaq Composite (NDX) is clinging close to the breakeven after a week of impressive highs. All three major indexes are looking to close the week with solid gains, however.
News of a potential treatment is propping up oil as well. At last check, crude for August delivery is up 1.1% at $40.04 per barrel, although black gold is still on its way to a weekly decline as inventories remain high. Additionally, record-breaking new coronavirus infections in the U.S. are stifling investors' optimism concerning economic recovery.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- One analyst turned bullish on Foot Locker stock.
- DPZ is sizzling on overdue bull notes.
- Plus, Carnival bulls are on board; WIMI scales the Nasdaq; and CNTG breaches key trendline.
Carnival Corp (NYSE:CCL) is seeing a decent amount of activity in its options pits today, with 57,000 calls crossing the tape so far -- 2 times intraday average -- compared to 27,000 puts. The most popular is the July 15 call, followed by the weekly 7/10 16-strike call, with new positions being opened at the former. At last check, the stock is up 6.7% at $15.56, putting CCL up 21.7% over the last three months.
Holographic AR company WiMi Hologram Cloud Inc (NASDAQ:WIMI) is one of the best performers on the Nasdaq this morning after it announced plans to use AI facial recognition and face changing technology to drive a new wave of cloud platform and 5G applications. WIMI is up 88.5% at $7.24 at last check, and now boasts a quarter-to-date rise of 122.9%.
One of the worst performers on the Nasdaq, meanwhile, is Centogene NV (NASDAQ:CNTG) after the biotech company priced 3.5 million shares at $14 -- an 18% discount to last night's close. The shares of the COVID-19 test creator are down 21.7% at $13.38 at last check, set to close below their 120-day moving average for the first time since its formation.
