The S&P 500 is hovering near all-time highs
Futures on Wall Street are muted Tuesday, as investors continue to eye record highs for the S&P 500 Index (SPX). Meanwhile, Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) and Nasdaq-100 (NDX) futures are on either side of breakeven. Despite today's quiet premarket action, the end-of-year rally has all three benchmarks pacing for solid yearly wins, with the Nasdaq on track for its best in 20 years.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Call traders gifted profits from this medical device stock.
- Delivery stock dinged by downgrade.
- Plus, Intel's big investment; Chinese gaming stock update; and biotech giant takes massive dive.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.3 million call contracts and 739,053 put contracts traded Tuesday. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.56, and the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.69.
- Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) is building on yesterday's gains after the chip maker revealed plans to invest $25 billion in making a chip plant in Israel. Last seen 0.6% higher ahead of the open, INTC boasts a 93.6% year-over-year lead.
- U.S.-listed shares of NetEase Inc (NASDAQ:NTES) are down 4% before the bell, after already losing 20.1% over the last month. Chinese gaming stocks have taken a hit recently, after regulators in the country proposed tougher rules on gaming. However, it seems a new conciliatory tone after the holiday break is helping the sector move higher in China.
- Iovance Biotherapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:IOVA) are 26.4% lower premarket, after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cut one of the company's clinical trials short. Specifically, after the death of a patient, the FDA put a clinical hold on Iovance's trial concerning a drug for non-small cell lung cancer. Today's premarket losses threaten to put a dent in IOVA's 95.4% quarter-to-date lead.
- What to look out for in the last week of 2023.
European Markets Look Towards Record Highs
Asian markets settled mostly higher on Wednesday, after Chinese regulators promised to “carefully study” stakeholder concerns that rose after the country proposed new gaming rules. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng led the region with a 1.7% pop thanks to small-cap outperformance, followed by Japan’s Nikkei gain of 1.1%, its fourth straight win. Meanwhile, China’s Shanghai Composite and South Korea’s Kospi added 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively.
European markets are also higher, with energy and tech stocks leading the charge as worldwide bourses flirt with record highs. London’s FTSE 100 is up 0.6%, the German DAX is 0.3% higher, and France’s CAC 40 sports a 0.2% lead so far today.