Retailers are enjoying strong tailwinds after December sales data
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is putting an exclamation point on its big week, with the index rallying over 200 points to fresh record highs. The S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) have surged to all-time peaks, too, despite weakness out of the tech sector, highlighted by Facebook (FB) stock's slide. Financial shares are picking up the slack, with Dow component JPMorgan Chase (JPM) at a new high after earnings, and shares of prominent retailers are also rising following December sales data. In fact, Target (TGT) is the top SPX stock today, earlier hitting a 52-week high.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Buy the Twitter stock rally, says one analyst.
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- Plus, takeover chatter fuels bullish betting on FireEye; a surging Apple supplier; and, GameStop slumps.
Among the stocks with unusual options volume is FireEye Inc (NASDAQ:FEYE), with Trade-Alert citing takeover speculation. More than 11,000 FEYE calls have traded so far, already surpassing the average daily volume of 6,872. Several near-term calls are popular -- and likely seeing buy-to-open activity -- but in the lead is the January 2018 15.50-strike call. As such, it appears options traders are expecting this rally from FEYE stock to continue.
One of the best stocks on the Nasdaq is touch-and-display specialist Synaptics, Incorporated (NASDAQ:SYNA), after KeyBanc upgraded the Apple supplier to "overweight" from "sector weight," and set a $60 price target -- the highest on Wall Street. Shares of SYNA have jumped 13.6% to trade at $49.89, gapping atop their 200-day moving average in the process.
One retail stock sitting out the sector-wide rally today is GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME), after the company issued a fourth-quarter sales and profit warning. GME stock has shed 10.8% to land on the short-sale restricted list, last seen trading at $17.81. This would end a six-session win streak for the security, as it topped out just below the 200-day moving average for the third time in the past year -- as more value is destroyed.