The S&P 500 is attempting to recapture yesterday's record high
Stocks are scattered this afternoon, as investors digest a weaker-than-expected retail sales reading from May. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) and Nasdaq Composite Index (IXIC) are both in the red, the former giving up a triple-digit lead in the morning and the latter in danger of snapping its six-day win streak. The S&P 500 Index (SPX) has also pared modest gains and was last seen just above breakeven, but still within a chip-shot of yesterday's all-time high.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Options traders dive into homebuilding stock after earnings.
- Merck stock higher after FDA vaccine approval.
- Plus, Nvidia calls pop; LZB hits three-year high; and Moderna's bird flu position.
Chipmakers continue to make outsized moves, with de facto market leader Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) last seen up 1.6% to trade at $133.07, as options bulls load up. So far today, 921,000 calls have crossed the tape, volume that's double the average intraday amount. New positions are being bought to open at the two most popular contracts, the June 133 and 132-strike calls. Wells Fargo and Rosenblatt Securities both hiked their price targets to reflect NVDA's recent 10-for-1 stock split, the former raising to $155 and the latter moving to $200. Year over year, Nvidia stock is up 212.1%.
La-Z-Boy Inc (NYSE:LZB) is surging after earnings, with shares last seen 18.2% higher at $40.26. The furniture company reported fiscal four-quarter adjusted earnings of 95 cents per share on revenue of $554 million, both of which were well above analysts' estimates. Now trading at its highest level since June 2021, LZB boasts a 50.1% year-over-year lead.
Shares of Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MDRNA) are 3.5% lower at $133.11, after a Reuters report called the stock a "lone omen of bird flue pandemic." The report pointed towards MRNA's 40% rise since the discovery of bird flue in American cows in March, and highlighted everything that a new outbreak could mean for the drugmaker. Year to date, Moderna stock is still up 33.1%.
