The S&P 500 scored an intraday record high earlier
Stocks are struggling for direction midday, initially bursting higher but later giving back gains. Investors are weighing the impact of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's prepared congressional testimony, which disclosed the central bank has no plans to alter monetary policies. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) was last seen 11 points lower, while the S&P 500 Index (SPX) is flat but notched another intraday record.
Elsewhere, the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) is just barely in the black, but Big Tech giants Apple (AAPL) and Alphabet (GOOGL) have managed to score new all-time highs. Following Powell's testimony, the 10-Year Treasury Yield slipped.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- eBay stock pops on billion-dollar deal.
- Behind the PTON bear note barrage.
- Plus, options traders blast AAL on upbeat guidance; Datasea stock surges on 5G deal; and a healthcare stock on a roller-coaster.
One stock seeing a surge in options activity today is American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL), up 7.5% at $21.53 at last check, after the airline giant issued a better-than-expected second-quarter forecast. So far, 94,000 calls and 27,000 puts have changed hands, volume that's double the intraday average. New positions are being bought to open at the July 21.50 call, the most popular contract today. The 22-strike call from the same series is also seeing a healthy amount of activity. AAL is up 85.1% year-over-year.
Datasea Inc (NASDAQ:DTSS) is at the top of the Nasdaq today, last seen up 84% to trade at $5.39, after the company's subsidiary Shuhai Zhangxun Information Technology signed six purchase and distribution agreements for its 5G messaging platform. Datasea stock broke out to $6.87 following the news, territory not seen since October 2019. Today's positive price action increased DTSS' year-to-date lead to 175%.
Meanwhile, at the bottom of the Nasdaq is Allied Healthcare Products Inc (NASDAQ:AHPI), down 29.4% to trade at $6.40 this afternoon. Though a catalyst for this negative price action was not immediately clear, the dip comes one day after the security soared a surged 128.8% to a one-year high of $11.54. Year-over-year, AHPI is down 38.6%.