The Dow is pacing for its best close in over two weeks
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is extending its push higher at midday, gaining roughly 337 points and pacing for its best close since March 21. A big rebound in Boeing (BA) shares is behind the blue-chip index's rise, as stocks continue to shake off recent trade tensions. Meanwhile, Facebook (FB) is headlining a strong day for the tech sector, up nearly 3% after CEO Mark Zuckerberg assured investors the recent data scandal shouldn't meaningfully affect future ad revenues. Fellow FAANG stock Amazon.com (AMZN) is also trading higher, even though President Donald Trump once again slammed the e-commerce giant in a tweet this morning.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- The biotech stock hit with a $100 price-target cut.
- 2 analysts saying buy Spotify stock.
- Plus, call buyers flock to a Russian internet stock; Finisar bounces from recent lows; and Micron falls to the bottom of the S&P.
One name seeing unusual options activity
is Yandex N.V. (NASDAQ:YNDX) -- otherwise known as the "Russian Google." Call volume is already more than triple the daily average, and according to Trade-Alert, this is the third straight day of heavy call trading on YNDX. The top two strikes by far today are the May 42 and 47 calls, thanks to a large spread trade earlier in the session. Yandex shares are up 1% today at $40.05, after yesterday bouncing from their 80-day moving average -- a trendline that has acted as strong support over the past year.
One stock outperforming on the Nasdaq today is fiber optics specialist Finisar Corporation (NASDAQ:FNSR), thanks to an upgrade to "overweight" from "equal weight" at Morgan Stanley. Perspective is important here, though. While FNSR stock is up 7.1% today at $15.75, the shares hit a two-year low of $14.25 just yesterday. In fact, the equity has been in sharp downtrend since peaking near $37 back in December 2016, guided lower by its 32-week moving average, and with the company releasing another disappointing earnings report less than a month ago.
On the other end of the Nasdaq is
Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU), trading down 5.7% at $50.35 following a fresh
"sell" rating at UBS. MU is by far the worst-performing S&P 500 Index (SPX) stock today, and is on pace for a third straight weekly loss after tapping a 17-year high of $63.42 back on March 13.