Futures on the Nasdaq are down more than 3% ahead of the open
Stock futures are looking to start the holiday-shortened week on a rocky note, pointing to even more downside to add to last week's wild selloff. Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures are set to open roughly 180 points lower, while futures on the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) are eyeing a nearly 375-point, drop coming into today. Big Tech's free-fall is on Wall Street's radar this morning, with all FAANG stocks posied for hefty losses after Friday marked the sector's biggest drop since March. In other news, Tesla (TSLA) is in headlines after the S&P Dow Jones Indices failed to add the stock to the S&P 500, disappointing investors.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- A historic bull signal is flashing for this healthcare stock.
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- Plus, ROKU gets a bull note; ALBO surges on drug data; and a medical stock presenting a good buying opportunity, according to one analyst.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange
(CBOE) saw over 1.65 million call contracts traded on Friday, and 1.1 million put
contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.67 and the
21-day moving average rose to 0.46.
- Wells Fargo just initiated coverage on Roku Inc (NASDAQ:ROKU), giving the streaming stock an "overweight" rating and a street-high price target of $215 -- a nearly 35% premium to Friday's close. In spite of the upgrade, ROKU is off 3.1% in electronic trading, set for its fourth consecutive loss since touching a record high near the $186 mark on Sept. 1.
- The shares of drug developer Albireo Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:ALBO) are scaling the Nasdaq ahead of the open, up 82.5% after the drug developer announced positive results for a late-stage study of its odevixibat treatment in children with a rare liver disease. ALBO is set to open at a fresh high after months of breakout attempts above the $28- $30 region.
- J.P. Morgan Securities gave a nod to medical device maker Becton Dickinson and Co (NYSE:BDX), predicting the company to start out 2021 with a highly conservative earnings outlook, which the analyst called a good buying opportunity. The analyst cited BDX's COVID-19 test Veritor as its single best lever in the upcoming year. The stock is trading just north of fair value this morning, testing support at the $323 mark.
- Today, all eyes will be on the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) small-business index, as well as a consumer credit report. The earnings docket will feature Lululemon (LULU) and Slack Technology (WORK).
GDP Data Sends Asian Markets Higher
Stocks in Asia were higher to start the first full week of September, thanks to revised second-quarter gross domestic product figures (GDP) out of Japan. Specifically, the April-June quarter showed Japan’s economy shrinking at an annualized rate of 28.1%, lower than the estimated median contraction of 28.6% polled by economists. As a result, the country’s Nikkei rose 0.8%. Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi and China’s Shanghai Composite each added 0.7%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng tacked on 0.1%.
European markets are lower this morning, falling as the recent declines in the U.S. tech sector weigh. Additionally, revised data showed that Eurozone second-quarter GDP contracted by 14.7% year-on-year, and 11% from last quarter. The French CAC 40 is down 1.7% at last check, while the German DAX has tumbled 1.3% so far. Rounding out the region, London’s FTSE 100 is off 0.5%, as investors eye the free trade deadline later this week in the U.K., as the country prepares to exit the European Union.