Equity futures were modestly in positive territory and the major averages remain slightly higher in a third day of advance as the market awaits President-elect Joe Biden's upcoming announcement of his economic stimulus package. Meanwhile, J&J announced data that gives the market hope that a third vaccine alternative, and first to require only one shot, may soon be coming in the U.S.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., initial jobless claims surged 181,000 to 965,000 in the week ended January 9. Import prices rose 0.9% and export prices climbed 1.1% in December.
TOP NEWS: Shares of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) are up 2% near noon after interim Phase 1/2a data were published in the New England Journal of Medicine on J&J's single-dose investigational COVID-19 vaccine candidate, JNJ-78436735, or Ad26. In announcing the publication of the data, J&J noted that the vaccine candidate "provided an immune response that lasted for at least 71 days," currently the latest timepoint available in this ongoing study, and "was generally well-tolerated across all study participants."
Shares of Intel (INTC) is moving higher for a second straight session as Wall Street continues to react positively to its naming yesterday of industry and company veteran Pat Gelsinger to take the reins as CEO. Meanwhile, AMD (AMD) shares are slipping a bit after BMO Capital analyst Ambrish Srivastava downgraded the rival chipmaking company to Underperform, arguing that part of its valuation has been attributable to Intel missteps that should end with Gelsinger in charge.
In M&A news, Cisco (CSCO) and Acacia Communications (ACIA) announced an amendment to the definitive merger agreement under which Cisco previously agreed to acquire Acacia. Under the terms of the new agreement, Cisco will acquire Acacia for $115 per share in cash, or about$4.5B on a fully diluted basis, net of cash and marketable securities.
In IPO news, Poshmark (POSH) opened for trading at $97.50 after pricing its initial public offering of 6M shares of its Class A common stock at $42 per share.
In earnings news, Delta (DAL) shares are up 3% despite the airline having reported worse than expected losses for its just completed quarter.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Lexicon (LXRX), which rose 90% after it received U.S. FDA regulatory feedback that the results of its SOLOIST and SCORED Phase 3 clinical studies can support a new drug application submission for an indication to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death, hospitalization for heart failure, and urgent visits for heart failure in adult patients with type 2 diabetes with either worsening heart failure or additional risk factors for heart failure. Also higher was Organogenesis (ORGO), which gained 32% after announcing it enrolled its first patient in Phase 3 trial of ReNu.
Among the notable losers was Eos Energy Enterprises (EOSE), which declined 13% after Iceberg Research issued a short report on the stock. Also lower was FuelCell (FCEL), which fell 11% after JPMorgan analyst Paul Coster downgraded the stock to Underweight from Neutral.
INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was up 95.32, or 0.31%, to 31,155.79 , the Nasdaq was up 24.76, or 0.19%, to 13,153.71 , and the S&P 500 was up 2.71, or 0.07%, to 3,812.55 .
