Futures for major US stock indices rose on Thursday in anticipation of labor market statistics and a new portion of corporate reporting, according to trading data.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) grew by 0.1%, to 30.660 points, on the NASDAQ high-tech index – by 0.41%, to 13449 points, on the broad market S&P 500 index – by 0.16%, up to 3829.88 points.
Investors are watching for signs that the US economic recovery will continue, despite the large number of cases of infection with coronavirus and new strains of it, against which existing vaccinations may be less effective, which is fraught with new restrictive measures.
In this light, the market is interested in the statistics of the initial jobless claims, which will be published later on Thursday. Analysts expect a decrease in this number by 17 thousand last week compared to the previous one, to 830 thousand applications.
In addition, traders are waiting for a new portion of corporate reporting in the United States. For example, investment company Carlyle Group, pharmaceutical Bristol-Myers Squibb and tobacco Philip Morris International should disclose their financials for the past quarter before the opening of trading, and the automaker Ford Motor and Snap, which owns the social networking app Snapchat, are planning to publish a profit report and losses after their closure.
Today Top Movers
Bilibili Inc (BILI) share price jumped 11.14% to $150.25 during the early morning trading session on Thursday. As of Q3 2020, Bilibili reported that its total number of monthly active users increased 54% year-over-year to 197.2 million. And the total paying users increased 89% to 15 million.
Cassava Sciences Inc (SAVA) gained over 42.00% at $124.89 in pre-market trading on Thursday. The firm recently declared results of an interim analysis from an open-label study of simufilam, its lead drug candidate for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
Onconova Therapeutics Inc (ONTX) grew over 6.70% at $0.90 in pre-market trading today. Recently ONTX being granted a European patent for “The Treatment Of Hematological Cancer Refractory To An Anti-Cancer Agent.”
DraftKings Inc (DKNG) stock moved up 1.01 percent to $60.72 in the pre-market trading.
Top Upgrades & Downgrades
Roth Capital turned bullish on Ocugen Inc. (OCGN), upgrading the stock to “Buy” and assigning a $1.0 price target, representing a potential upside of 60.14% from Wednesday’s close.
STERIS plc (STE) has won the favor of KeyBanc’s equity research team. The firm upgraded the shares from Sector Weight to Overweight and moved their price target to $224.0, suggesting a 22.45% additional upside for the stock.
FireEye Inc. (FEYE) received an upgrade from analysts at BofA, who also set their one-year price target on the stock to $27. They changed their rating on FEYE to Buy from Neutral in a recently issued research note.
Earlier Thursday HC Wainwright & Co. reduced its rating on GW Pharmaceuticals plc (GWPH) stock to Neutral from Buy and assigned the price target to $220.0. With shares trading at around $211.37, the Wall Street firm thinks GW Pharmaceuticals plc’s stock could add than 4.08%.
KeyBanc analysts reduced their investment ratings, saying in research reports covered by the media that it’s rating for Murphy Oil Corporation (MUR) has been changed to Sector Weight from Overweight.
Analysts at Oddo BHF downgraded GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK)’s stock to Neutral from Buy Thursday.
Latest Insider Activity
Apple Inc. (AAPL) Director LEVINSON ARTHUR D announced the sale of shares taking place on Feb 02 at $135.60 for some 3,416 shares. The total came to more than $0.46 million.
Koss Corporation (KOSS) VP – Marketing & Product Koss Michael J Jr sold on Feb 02 a total 46,000 shares at $25.98 on average. The insider’s sale generated proceeds of almost $0.36 million.
MannKind Corporation (MNKD) Chief Executive Officer Castagna Michael declared the purchase of shares taking place on Jan 31 at $1.33 for some 5,000 shares. The transaction amount was around $6650.
Texas Instruments Incorporated (TXN) Director Craighead Martin S bought on Jan 28 a total 21,388 shares at $166.91 on average. The purchase cost the insider an estimated $997,294.
Important Earnings
Top US earnings releases scheduled for today include Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK). It will announce its Dec 2020 financial results. The company is expected to report earnings of $0.13 per share from revenues of $7.43B in the three-month period.
Analysts expect Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) to report a net income (adjusted) of -$0.07 per share when the bank releases its quarterly results shortly. Revenue for the fiscal quarter ended Dec 2020 is predicted to come in at $33.89B.
Snap Inc. (SNAP), due to announce earnings after the market closes today, is expected to report earnings of $0.07 per share from revenues of $857.39M recently concluded three-month period.
