The Nasdaq is up triple digits at midday
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is up roughly 45 points at midday, building off of this morning's optimism thanks to better-than-expected gross domestic product (GDP) data. Also boosting sentiment is the number of initial weekly U.S. jobless claims, which fell to the lowest level since the pandemic started at 751,000 last week. Echoing this, the S&P 500 Index (SPX) is firmly above fair value as well, while the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) surges triple digits as investors patiently wait for the slew of Big Tech earnings due after the close today.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Bulls blast luxury retail stock after online shopping surge.
- Earnings beat gives beverage stock a boost.
- Plus, TIF announces merger with French conglomerate; PINS surges on quarterly win; and home-cooking stock plummets on lackluster forecast.
One stock seeing notable options activity today is Tiffany & Co. (NYSE:TIF), up 0.7% at $130.79, and earlier hitting a nine-year high of $97.93. The jump came after the jewelry concern announced it would be acquired by French luxury giant LVMH for $131.50 per share in cash, after modifying the price of a merger that will be closed in early 2021. As a result, 54,000 calls have crossed the tape -- 17 times the average intraday amount. Most popular is the November 125 call, followed by the 130-strike in the same series. Year-over-year, TIF is up 5.5%.
Surging on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is Pinterest Inc (NYSE:PINS), up 39.2% at $67.87, and earlier hitting an all-time-high of $68.92. The massive bull gap came after the social media giant reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings, and projected a 60% sales growth in the fourth quarter, as ad sales rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic. On the charts, the security has been breaking records on a monthly basis since July, with support from the 40-day moving average. PINS sports an impressive 266.1% year-to-date lead.
Meanwhile, dropping lower on the NYSE is Blue Apron Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:APRN), last seen down 25.9%, at $4.86. The drop came after the home cooking stock reported a third-quarter loss of $0.96 per share, as well as a fourth-quarter revenue forecast that missed estimates. The security has experienced quite a bit of volatility this year, surging to a March 19, two-year high of $28.84, just 10 days after dropping to an all-time-low near the $2 mark. Now, APRN is firmly below the 20-da moving average, and down 31.7% year-over-year.