March is starting on a positive note for stocks
A tame reading on the Fed-watched personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index and hopes for a U.S.-China trade deal have markets cautiously higher this afternoon. However, lackluster data on U.S. manufacturing and consumer sentiment are keeping stocks' gains in check. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) and S&P 500 Index (SPX) are in the black at midday, while the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) is on pace for an impressive 10th straight weekly win.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Retailer at the top of the NYSE on spin-off news.
- The software stock with cheap options after earnings.
- Plus, the pharma giant seeing unusual options volume; AMC's post-earnings bull gap; and a drug study sinks ImmunoGen shares.
Pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (NYSE:BMY) is sporting unusual options volume today, after a round of high-profile opposition of the company's plan to acquire acquire Celgene (CELG) for $74 billion. Specifically, 114,000 calls and 74,000 puts have crossed the tape so far, seven times the average intraday volume. Most popular has been the March 57.50 call and put, where symmetrical blocks of 70,000 contracts traded, possibly as part of a long straddle position. On the charts, BMY has managed to climb 18.5% from its Jan. 3 five-year low, to its current perch of $52.50.
AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE:AMC) is near the top of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) today, after the company reported impressive fourth-quarter earnings. Shares of the movie theater chain have been moving sideways on the charts since the start of this year, but today have gapped 13.2% higher to trade at $15.88, and are set to close above the 80-day moving average for the first time since Nov. 12.
At the bottom of the Nasdaq today is ImmunoGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:IMGN), after the company's late-stage experimental ovarian cancer drug failed its study. The shares have gapped 48% lower to trade at $2.44 -- territory not seen since early 2017. The negative trial results have pushed IMGN into a steep 77% year-over-year deficit.