The Nasdaq and S&P 500 are headed toward bleak monthly losses
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) are sinking triple digits, as investors wrap up the first month of 2022, and await a slew of economic data, due out later this week. The S&P 500 Index (SPX) is continuing toward its worst monthly performance since March 2020. Ahead of the bell, the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) is heading higher on the day, while the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) eyes its worst monthly performance since October 2008.
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5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 1.7 million call contracts traded on Friday, and 1.2 million put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.72, and the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.52.
- Plant-based meat producer Beyond Meat Inc (NASDAQ:BYND) is moving 4.8% higher in pre-market trading, after receiving a double upgrade from Barclays to "overweight" from "underweight." The firm noted future growth potential and also adjusted its price target to $80 from $70. BYND has shed nearly 70% over the past 12 months, mostly in part due to pressure from the 20-day moving average.
- Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) is inching lower in electronic trading, after sources told Bloomberg the company is moving forward with a sale of its U.K.-based drugstore, Boots. Several firms are allegedly already forming bids. WBA has managed some improvement, adding 7% in the last six months.
- Shares of streaming platform Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) are enjoying a 3.5% lift before the bell, after landing a bull note from Citigroup. The brokerage upgraded Netflix stock to "buy" from "neutral," saying previous evaluations don't include potential subscriber growth or economics. NFLX just last week fell to a nearly two-year low of $351.46, after suffering a steep post-earnings selloff.
- Kicking off the week is data from the Chicago purchasing managers' index (PMI) .
European Investors Eye Ukraine Tensions
Asian markets were higher on Monday, with both China’s Shanghai Composite and South Korea’s Kospi closed in observance of Lunar New Year eve. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng each rose 1.1%, with the latter brushing off official data showing a slowdown in factory activity growth for January, before closing early for the holiday.
European markets are mostly flat, as investors monitor Ukraine developments ahead of the United Nations (UN) Security Council meeting. They were also digesting a slowing euro zone gross domestic product (GDP) reading for the fourth quarter of 2021, though that was in line with analysts’ expectations. At last check, the German DAX is up 0.5%, London’s FTSE 100 is slightly above breakeven with a 0.02% gain, and France’s CAC 40 is modestly lower with a 0.08% loss.