Consumer confidence dropped firmly below analyst estimates
Stocks are mixed midday, after the most recent batch of economic data. Durable goods orders tumbled 6.1% in January, while the consumer confidence index fell to 106.7 from January's revised 110.9 -- below analyst estimates of 115.1. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is staging a triple-digit drop, while the S&P 500 Index (SPX) sits flat, and the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) moves modestly higher.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Lowe's stock hits 52-week highs after earnings.
- New biotech name entering the obesity drug game.
- Plus, options traders eye tumbling U; JANX tops the Nasdaq; and PRGO plummets.
Option traders are targeting Unity Software Inc (NYSE:U) as the stock tumbles following its disappointing forecast, despite upbeat fourth-quarter results. No fewer than four analysts chimed in with price-target cuts, too. So far, 95,000 calls and 87,000 puts have been exchanged, which is already 4.5 times the average daily volume. The weekly 3/1 30-strike call is the most popular, with new positions being opened there. At last look, U was down 9.2% at $30.01.
Janux Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:JANX) is at the top of the Nasdaq today, up 173.5% at $41.09 at last glance, after the biotech company announced positive data from an early-stage trial of its prostate cancer therapy, JANX007. Trading at record highs and earlier hitting a peak of $43.00, JANX is up 292% since the start of the year.
The New York Stock Exchange's (NYSE)
Perrigo Company PLC (NYSE:PRGO) is down 15.2% at $27.26 at last check, after the pharma name's disappointing full-year forecast. The $26.80 level, home to PRGO's November and December lows, appears to be keeping losses in check, however. Since last February, the equity is down roughly 25%.