The major indexes are attempting to recover from yesterday's volatile trading session
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) are looking to breakeven this morning, after the major index snapped a four-day winning streak during yesterday's volatile trading session. Meanwhile, futures on both the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) are looking to open with minimal gains, still recovering from yet another Big-Tech selloff. Elsewhere, confusion lingers regarding the timing of a coronavirus vaccine, while Congress struggles to agree on another round of stimulus. Tension also resides around U.S. President Donald Trump's continued clampdown on ByteDance's TikTok app, as Oracle (ORCL) looks to finalize its partnership with the Chinese company.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Dave & Buster's stock sounds bankruptcy alarm.
- Casino stock hits record highs after bull note.
- Plus, unpacking Penn National's analyst praise; Palo Alto Networks completes multi-million dollar acquisition; Oracle braces for TikTok decision.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange
(CBOE) saw over 1.4 million call contracts traded on Thursday, and 825,462 put
contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.58 and the
21-day moving average stayed at 0.49.
- Penn National Gaming, Inc (NASDAQ: PENN) is up 3.2% in pre-market trading, continuing its surge from yesterday morning's price-target hike from Stifel to $85 from $47. The firm noted the company's investment in Barstool Sports earlier this year, a business led by Dave Portnoy. The security is up 185% year-to-date.
- Palo Alto Networks Inc (NYSE: PANW) is up 0.8% before the bell, after the company announced it finalized the acquisition of The Crypsis Group, a security advisory firm, for roughly $265 million. The security is up 73.6% in the last six months.
- The shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE: ORCL) are down 0.3% in electronic trading, ahead of a statement by Trump determining whether or not the technology company can take a minority stake in TikTok. Earlier today, the Commerce Department announced it would ban U.S. business transactions with WeChat and TikTok on Sunday. Year-over-year, the security is up 14.5%.
- Today's attention is shifting to consumer sentiment and inflation data.
European Markets Mixed as Coronavirus Cases Rise
Stocks in Asia closed out the week on a positive note, rising as the Chinese yuan latched onto gains against the dollar. As a result, mainland stocks led the region, with China’s Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng tacking on 2.1% and 0.5%, respectively. Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi finished 0.3% higher while Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.2%, after it brushed off a stumble from conglomerate Softbank Group, which announced the sale of its entire stake in mobile services firm Brightstar.
European markets, meanwhile, were mixed, as a rise in global coronavirus cases led the World Health Organization (WHO) to warn of a “very serious situation” arising in Europe. As a result, the reimplementation of lockdown measures has begun in certain regions, leading to big losses in travel and leisure stocks. Still, the German DAX is up 0.3%, while France’s CAC 40 and London’s FTSE 100 are both off 0.2 %.