The Dow was last seen up 226 points
Stocks continue to distance themselves from the omicron-inspired selloff earlier this week, with all three major benchmarks eyeing a third-straight daily win. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) was last seen up 226 points, thanks to bank stocks, while Big Tech gains are boosting the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC). Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Index (SPX) is also comfortably higher. In turn, the indexes are looking to cap the holiday-shortened week with gains, with markets closed for Christmas Eve tomorrow.
New studies indicating the Covid-19 omicron variant has a lesser risk of hospitalization than other strains is also bolstering sentiment. Plus, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave both Pfizer (PFE) and Merck (MRK) emergency use authorization for their oral antiviral treatments to combat the virus.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- The billion-dollar acquisition that's hurting Crocs stock.
- What's putting wind in the sails of resort stocks today.
- Plus, why options traders are blasting JD; ALLK eyes rebound; and INNV hits record low.
JD.Com Inc (NASDAQ:JD) is seeing a surge in options activity today, with 62,000 calls and 35,000 puts across the tape so far -- four times the intraday average. Most popular is the January 2022 100-strike call, followed by the 80-strike call in the same series. JD was last seen down 6.8% at $68.73, after Tencent (TME) said it would distribute a good portion of its stake in the company to its shareholders as a $16.4 billion dividend. JD is now staring at a 21.9% year-to-date deficit.
One of the best performers on the Nasdaq today is Allakos Inc (NASDAQ:ALLK), which was last seen up 24% at $10.60, as it attempts to recover from yesterday's nearly 90% drop. The stock was hit with a slew of bear notes following disappointing data from two of its trials. ALLK is still down 92.5% year-to-date, as it looks to log its first yearly loss since going public in 2018.
One of the worst stocks on the Nasdaq today is InnovaAge Holding Corp (NASDAQ:INNV). The equity is down 29.2% at $5.85 at last check, following news that the company's Colorado centers have been sanctioned by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) following a focused audit. In turn, InnovAge withdrew its fiscal 2022 guidance. INNV earlier dipped to a record low of $3.46, after gapping back below the recently supportive 40-day moving average for the first time since early November.
