President Donald Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett to fill Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's seat
The week is off to a solid start, with stock futures pointed firmly higher as all three major indexes attempt to leave a four-week losing streak behind. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) are set to open more than 300 points higher. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) are also eyeing a head start, with Apple (AAPL) and Tesla (TSLA) extending their rebounds in pre-market trading.
A busy news weekend is giving investors plenty to think about. COVID-19 deaths across the globe approached the troubling 1 million mark. Elsewhere, President Donald Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett to fill Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's seat. In addition, the president rebutted a New York Times report claiming he paid hardly any federal income taxes over the past several years, and House Democrats are still working on a stimulus package costing about $2.4 trillion, which could get a vote as soon as next week.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Target stock could nab more record highs, says bullish signal.
- One real estate stock's bound higher, following a bull note from Stifel.
- Plus, Hologic gets emergency authorization for asymptomatic COVID-19 testing; Caesars buys sports-betting site; Cleveland-Cliffs expands through acquisition.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange
(CBOE) saw more than 1.2 million call contracts traded on Friday, and 711,460 put
contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio dropped to 0.56 and the
21-day moving average rose to 0.54.
- Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX) is up 2.6% in pre-market trading, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted the medical company an emergency use authorization for a test aimed at diagnosing asymptomatic COVID-19 infections. Year-over-year, HOLX sports a 29.7% lead.
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Caesars Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ:CZR) is up 2.7% before the bell, after the casino management company made a $3.7 billion pound cash offer to buy sports betting site William Hill. The security is up an impressive 241.9% in the last six months.
- The shares of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc (NYSE:CLF) are up 8.5% in electronic trading this morning, after the iron ore company announced it would buy most of ArcelorMittal’s (MT) operations in the U.S. for about $1.4 billion. Year-over-year, the stock is down roughly 30%.
- The week is kicking off slow with no notable economic data. United Natural Foods (UNFI) will report earnings.
Asian Markets Mostly Higher Despite New U.S. Sanctions
Stocks in Asia were mostly higher, though one region saw a small slip as a result of new U.S. sanctions. More specifically, China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.06% after the shares of Chinese chipmaker SMIC plunged amid reports that the U.S. imposed restrictions on exports to the firm for fear of military use. Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.3%, thanks to entertainment shares skyrocketing with a boost from K-pop sensation BTS’ label, which priced its initial public offering (IPO). Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei and China’s Shanghai Composite each rose 1.3%, while and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng notched a added 1% rise.
European stocks are in recovery mode today, rallied to begin the new week, after experiencing just off their worst week since mid-June. Investors continue to monitor the global rise of COVID-19 cases as well as political developments in the U.S. In response, the German DAX was last seen up 2.8%, with France’s CAC 40 up is 2.1% higher, and . Rounding out the region, London’s FTSE 100 has tacked on 1.4%.