All three major indexes are headed for steep weekly losses
Wall Street is looking to end the week on a dismal note, after a hotter-than-expected consumer price index (CPI) reading for May sent stocks spiraling. The CPI surged to its highest level since 1981, surging 8.6% year-over-year -- topping expectations -- and 6% excluding food and energy prices. The report also sent the 2-year Treasury yield above 2.9%.
In response, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) has shed 700 points by the midway mark, while the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) are swimming in red ink as well, with the latter down over 3% this afternoon. All three indexes are headed for steep weekly losses as well.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Why Goldman Sachs thinks Netflix stock is a "sell."
- Another tech stock getting hit with a downgrade today.
- Plus, AAL puts pop after lawsuit update; COGT clears key trendline; and FULC hits record low.
There's an unusual amount of options activity surrounding American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL) today, with bearish volume running at double the intraday average. So far, 61,000 calls and 87,000 puts have been traded. The most popular contract is the August 12 put, followed by the weekly 6/10 16-strike call, with positions being opened at the latter. AAL was last seen down 4.1% to trade at $14.83, after a U.S. judge said an antitrust lawsuit against the company and sector peer JetBlue (JBLU) is set to move forward, with the trial set for Sept. 26. Red-hot inflation data also weighed on travel stocks.
One of the best stocks on the Nasdaq today is Cogent Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:COGT), last seen up 117.1% at $10.77. The company announced its experimental drug bezuclastinib has "rapid, robust" efficacy in a recent trial, lowering levels of an enzyme linked to systemic mastocytosis by 50% or more. The stock is now up 15.9% year-to-date, with today's surge setting COGT on track to close above the 30-day moving average for the first time since April 22.
Fulcrum Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:FULC), meanwhile, is one of the worst performing stocks on the Nasdaq. The security is down 43.5% at $4.57 at last check, after posting proof-of-concept for its FTX-6058 treatment in sickle cell disease, based on data from its ongoing phase 1B trial. Though the treatment was reportedly well-tolerated, H.C. Wainwright still stepped in with a price-target cut to $20 from $40. The equity hit a record low of $3.21 earlier, and now suffers a 74.4% year-to-date loss.