On January 11, American stock markets closed in the red. The S & P500 index fell 0.66% to 3800 points, the Dow Jones lost 0.29%, the NASDAQ fell 1.25%. There were no new drivers for the movement, the correction was due to the fixation of positions after reaching historic highs the day before. The finance sector looked stronger than the broader market, climbing 0.43%. Investors are awaiting the release of positive quarterly reports from a number of major banks later this week.
Corporate News
Twitter (TWTR: -6.4%) permanently blocked Donald Trump’s account. Almost half of the active audience of the social network was subscribed to it.
Pharmaceutical giant Ely Lilly (LLY: + 11.7%) has published positive results from a Phase II trial of an Alzheimer’s slowing drug.
Electric car manufacturer NIO (NIO: + 6.4%) unveiled the new ET7 sedan and batteries. In addition, the company announced a collaboration with Nvidia (NVDA: + 2.6%) to develop autonomous driving technology.
Today, global stock markets are showing mixed dynamics. The main topic of discussion remains the draft stimulus package that Joe Biden will present this Thursday. The volume of the program will exceed $ 1 trillion and may reach $ 2-3 trillion. Hope for its adoption determines the relative stability of the broad market index. Further dynamics of investor sentiment will depend on the details of Biden’s plan. There is no doubt that the President-elect will try to make the program comprehensive in order to meet the expectations of the electorate. Large-scale stimulation of the economy was the main point of Biden’s election program. Nevertheless, investors’ expectations are already quite high. The S&P 500 is at historic highs. Talk of excessive investor optimism is increasingly broadcast in the business media.
Today there will be speeches by several representatives of the FRS, who can clarify the plan for changing the parameters of the quantitative easing program. The Fed’s inflation and unemployment expectations are also receiving increased attention, as they have a direct impact on Treasury yields.
Sentiment Index
The Freedom Finance Sentiment Index climbed to 60 out of 100. The index reflects market participants’ hope for a global economic recovery in 2021. Worries about the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic continue to decline thanks to the prospect of mass vaccinations.
Technical picture
Technically, the S&P 500 is showing a strong uptrend, but the risk of a correction is increasing. The broad market index tested the upper border of the equidistant channel in the 3825-3830 area yesterday, where it encountered strong resistance. The RSI indicator remains close to the overbought zone, which limits the upside potential from current levels. If a corrective movement develops, the first significant target will be the level of 3700 points.
Today Top Movers
Naked Brand Group Ltd (NAKD), an apparel manufacturing company, soared about 7.71% at $0.44 in pre-market trading Tuesday.
US Well Services Inc (USWS) share price gained 75.02% to $0.91during early morning trading session on Tuesday after declaring that it has finalized an extension of its contract to provide electric hydraulic fracturing services for Range Resources in the Appalachian Basin.
T2 Biosystms Inc (TTOO) stock ascended 43.12% at $2.29 in the pre-market trading today following the announcement from the company that its T2SARS-CoV-2™ Panel is capable of detecting the multiple variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus most recently identified in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and the United States.
Lion Group Holding Ltd (LGHL) surged over 19.05% at $4.75 in pre-market trading on Tuesday after the company revealed that Mr. Guandong Wang has been appointed as a director of the Board of Directors on January 6, 2021.
Top Upgrades & Downgrades
Citigroup turned bullish on NOV Inc. (NOV), upgrading the stock to “Buy” and assigning a $18.0 price target, representing potential upside of 17.23% from Monday’s close.
Commvault Systems Inc. (CVLT) has won the favor of Piper Sandler’s equity research team. The firm upgraded the shares from Neutral to Overweight and moved their price target to $68.0, suggesting 20.5% additional upside for the stock.
Oshkosh Corporation (OSK) received an upgrade from analysts at Credit Suisse, who also set their one-year price target on the stock to $117.0. They changed their rating on OSK to Outperform from Neutral in a recently issued research note.
Earlier Tuesday KeyBanc reduced its rating on WEC Energy Group Inc. (WEC) stock to Sector Weight from Overweight.
KeyBanc analysts reduced their investment ratings, saying in research reports covered by the media that its rating for Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc. (SCHN) has been changed to Sector Weight from Overweight.
Analysts at KeyBanc downgraded American Electric Power Company Inc. (AEP)’s stock to Sector Weight from Overweight Tuesday.
Latest Insider Activity
Marathon Patent Group Inc. (MARA) Chief Executive Officer OKAMOTO MERRICK D announced the sale of shares taking place on Jan 07 at $20.51 for some 632,000 shares. The total came to more than $12.96 million.
Moderna Inc. (MRNA) Chief Executive Officer Bancel Stephane sold on Jan 08 a total 220,936 shares at $114.02 on average. The insider’s sale generated proceeds of almost $1.26 million.
PBF Energy Inc. (PBF) Add’l Rep. Persons-see Ex.99-1 Control Empresarial de Capital declared the purchase of shares taking place on Dec 28 at $6.87 for some 40,000 shares. The transaction amount was around $0.27 million.
Party City Holdco Inc. (PRTY) 10% Owner SOSIN CLIFFORD bought on Jan 05 a total 15,986,623 shares at $6.63 on average. The purchase cost the insider an estimated $2.1 million.
Important Earnings
Top US earnings releases scheduled for today include KB Home (NYSE:KBH). It will announce its Nov 2020 financial results. The company is expected to report earnings of $0.93 per share from revenues of $1.14B in the three-month period.
Analysts expect BGC Partners Inc. (NASDAQ:BGCP) to report a net income (adjusted) of $0.11 per share, when the bank releases its quarterly results shortly. Revenue for the fiscal quarter ended Dec 2020 is predicted to come in at $460.45M.
EXFO Inc. (EXFO), due to announce earnings after the market closes today, is expected to report earnings of $0.03 per share from revenues of $70.89M recently concluded three-month period.
