The Dow was up 425 points at midday
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is up 425 points at midday, extending this morning's gains after U.S. President Donald Trump called on legislators to approve additional support for airlines, as well as a second round of $1,200 stimulus checks -- despite late yesterday demanding a postponement of stimulus talks until after the election. In turn, the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) are also substantially higher. Elsewhere, investors are waiting for the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes, which will be released later this afternoon.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Netflix stock scored a Street-high price-target hike.
- Why this biotech giant just bounced back.
- Plus, chemicals company buys back shares; Levi Strauss stock rises on earnings beat; and Vedanta stock drops after African miner sells stake.
One stock seeing notable options activity is Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI), up 7% at $12.48 at last check. The jump came after the chemicals company repurchased 1.5 million worth of shares from affiliated entities of co-founder and former director Nicolas Berggruen. Plus, Executive Chairman Martin E. Franklin purchased 500,000 shares. At last check, 12,000 calls have crossed the tape -- 23 times the average intraday amount. Most popular is the October 12.50 call, where new positions are being opened. Year-over-year, ESI is up roughly 34%.
Surging on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI), up 8.8% at $16.04 at last check. Today's pop comes after the apparel company reported better-than-expected fiscal third-quarter earnings and revenue. As a result, LEVI earned no less than four price-target hikes this morning, including one from Guggenheim to $20 from $16. Prior to the stock's earnings beat, shares were already receiving support from the 10-day moving average, after several weeks of trading mostly sideways. Regardless, within the last three months, the security has gained 27.2%.
Meanwhile, dropping lower is Vedanta Ltd (NYSE:VEDL), last seen down 7.9% at $6.77, and one of the top three percentage losers premarket. The negative price action came after African miner Exxaro announced it would sell 24.4% stake in Vedanta Zinc International's Black Mountain Mining (BMM) operations to the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). Before the news took a hit on the security, shares had been chopping higher on the charts, with support from the 30-day moving average. However, year-to-date, VEDL is down 19.1%.
