U.S stocks are headed to a negative start, with the NASDAQ leading the way in losses. The losses are a continuation of the bearish momentum that gripped the markets last week. The heavy selloff in the NASDAQ follows the revelation that the massive tech rally that characterized the market earlier was the result of an aggressive buying spree by Softbank.
This has created a chaotic trading environment as investors rush to sell and take profits. It’s an indicator that investors are not confident that there was any fundamental justification for the run-up in price. For context, stocks like Tesla and Apple had rallied by between 30% and 50% in a very short time, with the fundamentals remaining relatively unchanged.
There is also the fact that the Federal Reserve had dampened the market mood with data showing a relatively weakened labour market. This points to a situation whereby the equity markets have not been reflective of the economy. This mismatch could see the stock markets correct further in the day, with the relatively weak trading day in Europe being a pointer on market direction. Nonetheless, there are stocks that are weathering this environment and are gaining quite strongly pre-market. Some of the stocks that are gaining are:
Biocept Inc [NASDAQ: BIOC]
Biocept is a top performer ahead of markets and is up by 700%. This rally comes days after the company announced a 1 for 10 reverse split. The split was announced on 4th September but will become effective today when markets open. The goal of the split is to raise the price and allow the company to hold above $1 and maintain its listing on the NASDAQ. The company further announced that no fractional shares would be issued with regards to the split.
Albireo Pharma Inc [NASDAQ: ALBO]
This is another top performer pre-market and is up by over 80%. This follows the company’s announcement that its phase 3 trials for Odevixibat had met its primary endpoints. The company’s CEO Ron Cooper stated that Odevixibat had clinically shown to lower bile acids in patients suffering from PFIC1 and PFIC2. He added that the results were a confidence boost for the company in its current BOLD pivotal trial for the treatment of Alagille syndrome that will start this year.
InspireMD Inc [NYSE: NSPR]
This is another top performer pre-market and is up by over 30%. This follows the company’s announcement that the U.S F.D.A had approved it to go ahead with a study of CGuard™ in preventing stroke. CEO, Marvin Slosman, stated that this was a major milestone in the company’s plans for worldwide expansion.
