The major averages are mostly higher, but only modestly so as the sluggish, consolidative trade that has been in place since the Dow and S&P 500 closed at record highs Monday remains in place.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., initial jobless claims rose 16,000 to 744,000 in the week ended April 3.
TOP NEWS: Production of some of Apple's (AAPL) MacBooks and iPads has been postponed due to the global component shortage, The Nikkei Asia's Cheng Ting-Fang and Lauly Li reported. According to their sources, chip shortages have caused delays in a key step in MacBook production, while some iPad assembly was postponed because of a shortage of displays and display components.
Twitter (TWTR) recently held discussions to acquire Clubhouse, the audio-driven social network, Katie Roof, Kurt Wagner and Scott Deveau of Bloomberg reported last night. The two parties reportedly discussed a potential valuation of approximately $4B. However, sources noted that talks have not continued and it has not been disclosed as to why they stopped.
Shares of GameStop (GME) are in the spotlight on Thursday after the company said it intends to elect Chewy (CHWY) co-founder Ryan Cohen as chairman. The shares initially moved higher following the board nomination announcements, but have pulled back to be down fractionally near noon.
In SPAC news, special purpose acquisition company Rice Acquisition (RICE) announced last night an agreement to enter into a business combination with Aria Energy and Archaea Energy, which it says will create "the industry-leading renewable natural gas platform." Meanwhile, Bloomberg and Reuters each reported that sporting goods retailer Signa Sports United is in talks to go public through a merger with a SPAC. Signa is working with several banks on a potential transaction that could value the company at up to $4B and is in preliminary talks with SPACs including Yucaipa Acquisition Corp (YAC), according to Reuters.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Orbcomm (ORBC), which rose 52% after it agreed to be acquired by GI Partners for $11.50 per share in cash. Also higher was Par Technology (PAR), which gained 26% after it acquired Punchh for roughly $500M in cash and stock.
Among the notable losers was Box (BOX), which declined 9% after the company announced a $500M investment into the company led by KKR (KKR). Also lower was GreenBox (GBOX), which slid 4% after reaching final terms to acquire ChargeSavvy in a $12M transaction.
INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was down 15.14, or 0.05%, to 33,431.12, the Nasdaq was up 116.29, or 0.85%, to 13,805.13, and the S&P 500 was up 11.51, or 0.28%, to 4,091.46.
