All three major benchmarks are lower this afternoon
Stocks are paring this morning's gains that followed Meta Platforms' (META) upbeat quarterly results, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) down 513 points at last glance. Investors are unpacking plenty of economic data, as jobless claims rose to a one-year high, U.S. productivity by far exceeded estimates, and the ISM manufacturing index dropped to 46.8% in July from June's 48.5%. This marks an eight-month low for the key barometer of U.S. factories, as well as its fourth-straight monthly contraction.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Western Digital stock plummets after mixed results.
- Behind Moderna stock's bear gap.
- Plus, options traders blast LUMN; and 2 stocks moving after earnings.
Lumen Technologies Inc (NYSE:LUMN) is continuing to soar after its recent pledge to support artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives, up 23% at $3.87 today and trading at 52-week highs. And in terms of unusual volume in the options pits, LUMN is at the top of the list. So far, 182,000 calls and 29,000 puts have been exchanged, which is already 8.1 times LUMN's average daily options volume. The September 6 call is the most popular, with new positions being bought to open there.
Medical equipment stock Omnicell Inc (NASDAQ:OMCL) is near the top of the Nasdaq today, up 23.2% at $36.00 at last glance, after second-quarter earnings and revenue beat estimates. Trading at its highest levels since January, the equity is still down 4.2% year to date.
On the other hand, finance name NerdWallet Inc (NASDAQ:NRDS) is down 19.6% at $11.76 at last look, after the company's disappointing second-quarter earnings. Hitting fresh 2024 lows, NRDS is down 20.3% since the start of the year.
