The second COVID-19 stimulus package is stalled in congress
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) are eyeing a steep triple-digit move lower this morning, as sentiment surrounding a possible COVID-19 relief package dims. While the rhetoric between the bipartisan negotiations seems slightly positive, investor spirit has been dampened by no concrete breakthrough. S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) futures are firmly in the red as well, with all three indexes on track for weekly losses, despite the record highs earlier in the week. There's one silver lining to end the week though; the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to grant the emergency use of Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech's (BNTX) experimental vaccine.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Fastly stock saw a surge of call options yesterday.
- Adobe stock was unable to take advantage of an upbeat quarterly report.
- Plus, Apple supplier dropping post-earnings, Disney stock surges after streaming update; and bull notes galore for LULU after earnings.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.6 million call contracts traded on Thursday, and 656,533 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.40 and the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.42.
- Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) stock is down 2.7% in electronic trading, despite the semiconductor's top-line beat for the fourth quarter. Instead, a warning of softer demand and supply disruptions in the future are weighing on AVGO. Nevertheless no fewer than 10 analysts raised their price targets, the highest coming from J. P. Morgan Securities to $500.
- Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) stock is up 7.8% ahead of the bell today, after the entertainment giant reported an ambitious streaming target, noting that its Disney+ streaming service has 86.8 million subscribers already. No fewer than five analysts raised their price targets in response, and Walt Disney stock is up 7% year-to-date heading into today.
- The shares of Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) are down 0.8% ahead of the open, despite the athleisure company's third-quarter earnings and revenue beat and upbeat holiday sales forecast. Analysts are chiming in with a mass of bull notes, as no fewer than 15 raised their price targets in response. Year-to-date, the equity is up 59.3% coming into today's session.
- Today will bring producer price index (PPI) and consumer sentiment data.
Brexit Update Weighs on European Stocks
Asian markets were mixed today, as investors monitored U.S. stimulus talks, and an advisory panel for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended Pfizer’s (PFE) COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. In turn, South Korea’s Kospi and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng both added 0.9% and 0.4%, respectively. Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.4%, and China’s Shanghai Composite was down 0.8%.
Stocks are lower across the pond, after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there was a "strong possibility" the United Kingdom would leave the European Union (EU) at the end of the month without a trade deal, after negotiations failed to yield results. Meanwhile, the EU will proceed with a plan to raise $908 billion to support economic recovery efforts. At last check, the German DAX was down 1.5%, while France’s CAC 40 is down 0.9%, and London’s FTSE 100 has dropped 0.6%.