Stocks did not show much positive reaction in late trading yesterday after the Federal Reserve Bank cut its implied forecast for interest rate increases this year from two to zero, though the market appeared to have a delayed response by rallying today. Shares of financial stocks sat out the rally, but tech stocks were among the leaders, helped by a post-earnings jump in Micron (MU) and upgrade-fueled strength in Apple (AAPL).
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., initial jobless claims dropped 9,000 to 221,000 in the week ended March 16. The Philly Fed index bounced 17.8 points to 13.7 in March, which was much stronger than expected. The index of leading economic indicators rose 0.2% to 111.5 in February.
TOP NEWS: Shares of Biogen (BIIB) plunged 29.2% after the company announced plans to discontinue its global Phase 3 program for Alzheimer's drug candidate aducabumab. The discontinuation comes after an independent data monitoring committee said the treatment was unlikely to meet its primary goal.
Shares of Apple finished 3.7% higher after Needham analyst Laura Martin upgraded the stock to Strong Buy as she believes the company is "most likely to prevail in a direct competition between FAANG ecosystems." In addition, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives raised his price target for Apple to $215 as he views the likely announcement of a streaming video service on March 25 as a "pivotal step" in further driving the tech giant's services flywheel.
Micron jumped 9.6% following last night's fiscal Q2 report from the memory chip maker. The company's outlook for Q3 was well below consensus on a weaker pricing environment associated with continued excess inventory across end-markets, but Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh raised his price target for Micron Technology to $47 from $44 saying that while the company's May quarter guidance fell significantly below consensus, it is still better than some "dire expectations."
Ford (F) announced that CFO Bob Shanks plans to retire from the company at the end of 2019. He will be succeeded by Tim Stone, a finance executive who served 20 years at Amazon (AMZN) and as CFO of Snap (SNAP).
Iconic jeans maker Levi Strauss (LEVI) made its return to the public market, pricing its initial public offering at $17.00 per share and opening for trading at $22.22 per share.
Meanwhile, Walmart (WMT) was in focus after USGamer reported that the retail giant is exploring entering the video game streaming space. The report follows Google's (GOOGL) announcement of its new games streaming venture, called Stadia, earlier this week.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Sorrento Therapeutics (SRNE), which rose 49.9% after B. Riley FBR analyst Andrew D'Silva raised his price target on the stock to $12 from $10.50, saying he sees "numerous" catalysts. Also higher was Darden Restaurants (DRI), which gained 6.9% after reporting quarterly results.
Among the notable losers was DexCom (DXCM), which slid 2.7% after Spruce Point issued a "Strong Sell" opinion on the stock, saying it sees 45%-60% downside for what it views as "a risky one-product company valued as a growth story." Also lower were Canadian Solar (CSIQ) and Guess (GES), which fell 18.4% and 12.5%, respectively, following their quarterly reports.
INDEXES: The Dow rose 216.84, or 0.84%, to 25,962.51, the Nasdaq gained 109.99, or 1.42%, to 7,838.96, and the S&P 500 advanced 30.65, or 1.09%, to 2,854.88.
