All three major indexes are eyeing significant weekly gains
Futures on the the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) are trading slightly above fair value this morning, wrapping up a holiday week that has been marked by upbeat vaccine news and the start of a presidential transition. Meanwhile, futures on the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) are also marginally higher, with traders targeting retailers in anticipation of strong online Black Friday sales. Elsewhere, investors are feeling optimistic after President Donald Trump said he would leave the White House if the Electoral College votes for President-elect Joe Biden. As it stands, all three major indexes are eyeing significant weekly gains.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Resilient clean energy stock has room to run.
- Canada Goose stock gets plucked after double downgrade.
- Plus, Amazon to pay millions in holiday bonuses; Walt Disney to lay off more workers than anticipated; and Tesla stock drops as vehicles go under investigation.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.9 million call contracts traded on Wednesday, and 774,904 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.40 and the 21-day moving average dropped to 0.46.
- Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is up 0.7% in pre-market trading, after the major e-tailer said it would pay more than $500 million on bonuses to compensate employees who work during the holidays. Full-time employees will receive $300, while part-time employees will receive $150. Year-over-year, AMZN is up 77%.
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Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) is down 0.4% before the bell, after company hiked the number of planned layoffs it has planned to 32,000 from 28,000. The news comes as its California theme parks remain closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, and other parks continue to function at limited capacity. For the quarter, DIS is up 20.2%.
- The shares of Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) are up 1.6% in electronic trading, despite news that the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration is investigating what could be a front suspension issue with the company's Model S and Model X cars, involving 115,000 vehicles. Year-over-year, TSLA remains up a whopping 772.6%.
- It's a slow day, with no economic data to be released and markets closing at 1 p.m ET.
European Markets Mixed Over COVID-19 Vaccine Criticism
Stocks in Asia closed the week out strong, after data from China showed industrial profits rose just over 28% year-on-year in October. Gains were capped, however, after experts in the U.S. criticized the results and methods of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine candidate. As a result, China’s Shanghai Composite walked away the biggest winner, with a 1.1% gain. Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.4%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and South Korea’s Kospi each added 0.3%.
European markets, meanwhile, are mixed, with London’s FTSE 100 last seen down 0.5%, thanks in no small part to the aforementioned vaccine news. Elsewhere, the German DAX and France’s CAC 40 have added 0.2% and 0.5% apiece.