The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are modestly lower midday
Stocks are fighting to find their footing midday, despite the latest jobless claims data that showed unemployment filings hit their lowest level during the pandemic-era. In addition, Wall Street is brushing off more upbeat earnings from the financial sector. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) was last seen inching lower, while the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) are deeper in the red.
Elsewhere, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell kicked off his second day of Congressional testimony, with an emphasis on the challenges of addressing inflation. His comments have already helped the 10-year Treasury yield, which is rebounding from session lows.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Netflix stock picked up yet another price-target hike.
- Beyond Meat stock boosted by e-commerce deal in China.
- Plus, MRNA calls pop ahead of earnings; Carver Bancorp stock picks up steam again; and one software stock reeling on the charts.
One stock seeing a surge in call activity today is Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA), last seen up 3% to trade at $254.12, and earlier hitting an all-time high of $255.48. This comes as the vaccine stalwart gears up to report second quarter financial results amid another wave of Covid-19 infections. So far, 34,000 calls have crossed the tape, double the intraday average and more than triple the amount of puts traded so far. Most popular is the July 250 call, with new positions are being bought to open. Moderna stock is up 216.8% year-over-year.
Near the top of the Nasdaq today is Carver Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:CARV), last seen up 10.8% to trade at $19.68, though it's unclear what the reason for today's surge is. Carver Bancorp stock is recently removed from a July 9, record high of $42.50, and added an impressive 106.9% the following. CARV is now up 217.3% year-to-date, a far cry from last year's profile we ran on the community stock.
Meanwhile, near the bottom of the Nasdaq is
Marin Software Inc (NASDAQ:MRIN),
down 12.4% to trade at $11.98 this afternoon, after the company issued lackluster preliminary second-quarter financial results. Marin Software received the
meme stock treatment in June, to the tune of a 594% gain in the last month. However, this week alone the equity shed over 30%, and is pacing for its seventh straight loss.