The major averages are mildly higher at midday amid changes in the U.S. government's strategy to rolling out COVID-19 vaccines. The federal government is now recommending that states starts immunizing all residents 65 and older in an easing of prior guidelines in order to speed up the deployment of the vaccines that have already been approved. Meanwhile, the House plans to vote on the impeachment of President Donald Trump for the second time since he has been in office. Wall Street has been choppy with modest moves so far this week after the three major indexes closed at record high levels last Friday.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., the headline consumer price index rose 0.4% in December, with the core CPI rate edging up a restrained 0.1%.
TOP NEWS: Shares of Intel (INTC) are 8% higher near noon after the company announced Pat Gelsinger, formerly of both VMware (VMW) and Intel itself, will take over as CEO. Meanwhile, VMware shares are down 8% on what several analysts have called bad news for it and good news for the chipmaking giant.
Target (TGT) announced that comparable sales in the combined November/December period grew 17.2%, driven by a 4.3% increase in traffic and a 12.3% increase in average ticket. Target Chairman and CEO Brian Cornell said, "The momentum in our business continued in the holiday season with notable market share gains across our entire product portfolio."
Affirm (AFRM) soared in its debut on the public market. Shares of the financial technology company opened at $90.90 after its IPO priced at $49 per share.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was WiMi Hologram Cloud (WIMI), which jumped 17% after announcing it obtained a patent for a 3D holographic pulse laser device. Also higher was Canoo (GOEV), which gained 16% after The Verge reported that Apple (AAPL) held talks with the electric vehicle startup during the first half of 2020.
Among the notable losers was Marathon Petroleum (MARA), which declined 15% after it announced a $250M registered direct offering. Also lower was Party City (PRTY), which fell 6% after its preliminary revenue missed expectations.
INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was up 58.75, or 0.19%, to 31,127.44, the Nasdaq was up 77.21, or 0.59%, to 13,149.65, and the S&P 500 was up 12.59, or 0.33%, to 3,813.78.
