Equity Indexes Wrap: Tech and🌄 Finance Lead Markets Higher; Broadcom Lifts Nasdaq Ag💞ain

The Dow

Salesforce (CRM) led the index 🔴higher, rising 1.7%. Tech was the session'✤s best-performing sector, gaining 0.8% today. 

Financials followed closely behind, rising 0.7%. Dow financial components American Express (AXP) and Visa (V) both gained more than 1%. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) rose 0.9%.

Chevron (CVX) l൲ost 1.3% as oil prices plunged as much as 4% intraday. 

Disney (DIS) shares fell 1.2% following reports it was in talks with Reliance Industries, the conglomerate run by India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, to merge the two companies’ Indian media operations.

The S&P 500

Biotech Incyte (INCY) was the index’s best-performing stock two days after it said a phase 2 tr⛎ial of its treatment for refractory chronic graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) met trial goals. Incyte shares gained 4.3% Monday and 8.5% today. 

Shares of Centene (CNC) rose 2.8% after the company said it expects earnings of at least $6.70 a share in 2024, up about 2% despite a higher 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:health benefits ratio and lower premium and services revenue. The company’s board al🧜s🦄o authorized $4 billion in stock buybacks.

Oracle (ORCL) fell 12.4% after 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:its quarterly sales and guidance missed analyst estimates. 

Shares of HVAC system manufacturer Johnson Controls (JCI) fell 6% after its fourth-qꦰuarter sal🐼es fell short of Wall Street estimates. 

Paramount Global (PARA) fell 6% following reports Shari Redstone, who controls the company through the holding company National Amusement, had met with several interested buyers to discuss selling her stake. The company is also reportedly preparing to lay off as many as 1,000 employees in early 2024. 

The Nasdaq-100

Broadcom (AVGO) led the index higher for a second straight day, rising 4.2% after jumping 9% yesterday. Citigroup yesterday gave the stock a buy rating and raised its price target to $1,100, citing its potential in the AI market and benefits from its VMWare acquisition.&nbౠsp;

Seagen (SGEN) shares rose 3.3% after Pfizer (PFE) said it had re🌞ceived all required regulatory approvals to complete its $43 billion acquisition of the biotech firm. The companies expect the deal to close on Dec. 14𝕴.

PDD (PDD), the owner of rapidly growing discount e-commerce platforms Pinduoduo and Temu, gained 2.9%. PDD recently surpassed Alibaba (BABA) as China’s most valuable e-commerce company.

Nvidia (NVDA) gained 2.2% after Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the chip maker was in regular communication with her department about designing semiconductors that comply with restrictions on the export of advanced chips to China. Raimondo ca😼lled the company “a good partner” in an interview with Bloomberg News. 

Lucid (LCID) shares fell 8.5% after the luxury electric vehicle maker’s chief financial officer Sherry House resigned, adding to the woes of a company struggling with sluggish demand and a tumbling stock pꩵrice.

Shares of Moderna (MRNA) fell 4.8% after the biotech said its chief commercial officer, Arpa Garay, would leave the company early next y🐈ear and CEO Steph𓂃ane Bancel would take responsibility for sales and marketing as the company prepares to launch its RSV vaccine. 

U.S. Crude Falls to Five-Month Low

Crude oil futures plunged as much as 🌊4% Tuesday, extending a weeks-long slide amid concerns about slowing global growth and robust supplies. 

澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures contracts on Tuesday fell as low as $68.25 a barrel, their lowest price since June. 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Brent crude sank to about $73 a barrel. 

The U.S. Energy Information Administration lowered its expectations for oil prices next year. In its December Short-Term Energy Outlook, the agency forecast Brent 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:spot prices will average $83 a barrel next year, an 11% decrease from its N🧜ovember estimate of $93.

Meanwhile, U.S. crude inventories are expected to increase more than previously expected both this year and next year. The IEA expects inventories to average 435 million barrels this year—a 5% increase from last month’s estimate—and 439 million barrels next year—a 3% boost from November.

AstraZeneca to Buy Icosavax For $1.1 Billion

Shares of Icosavax (ICVX) 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:skyrocketed Tuesday after AstraZeneca (AZN) agreed to🎃 purchase the biopharma company for up to $1.1 billion to expand its reach into cutting-edge v💯accine technology.

Through the deal, AstraZeneca would get access to Icosavax’s “innovative protein virus-like particle (VLP) platform.” Its lead experimental treatment is a Phase 3-ready shot using VLP to prevent both respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human metapneumovirus (hMPV).

The company explained that AstraZeneca would pay Icosavax’s investors $15 per share in cash at closing, with the potential of an additional🤡 $5 per share upon achieving a speci♔fied regulatory milestone and a sales milestone.

At $15 per share, the buyout represents a 43% premium to Icosavax’s closing price on Monday. Icosavax shares were up 48% Tuesday afternoon. 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:American Depositary Receipts (AD🍃Rs) of AstraZeneca were also 0.8% higher.

-Bill McColl

Hasbro Shares Sꦫlip on Sluggish Toy Sales, Expand📖ed Layoffs

Shares of Hasbro (HAS) fell more than 3% after the toymaker said it was 𒆙laying off 1,100 employees as it navigates a tricky comedown from pandemic highs. 

The layoffs are in addition to the 800 jobs the company ha🌊d already cut this year as part of a cost-control progr🅰am laid out in October 2022. 

CEO Chris Cocks said in an email to employees that despite the progress the company had made on its supply chain, inventory management, and operational costs, “the market headwinds we anticipated have proven to be stronger and more persistent than planned.”

Hasbro 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:warned about sluggish toy sales in its third-quarter earnings report, in which it forecast revenue would decline between 13% and 15% from 2022. It also lowered its sales guidance for its consu♈mer products unit, assuming revenue declines to fall somewhere in the mid to high-teens.

With Tuesday's losses, Hasbro shares are down more than 20% for the year and 35% off their 52-week high.

Choice Hotels Escalates Bid to Acquire Wyndham

Choice Hotels International (CHH) on Tuesday turned up the heat on Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (WH) in its effort to buy the b🐷udget-friendly hotel operator. 

Choice on Tuesday announced an 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:exchange offer, appealing directly to Wyndham shareholders after being rebuffed by the company’s board. Choice is offering shareholders $49.50 in cash and 0.324 shares of Choice—valued at $40.50—for each Wyndham share they own. Wyndham shareholders have until 5 p.m. ET on March 8, 2024, to Choice’s offer.

Choice said it had made the same offer to Wyndham’s board of directors on Nov. 14, at which time it also offered Wyndham two seats on the new company’s board. Wyndham at the time called Choice’s private offer—a follow-up to a public offer Wyndham rejected in October—“a step backwards,” saying it carried a nominal value of $86 a share, $4 less than its original offer.

Shares of Choice Hotels fell about♌ 1.6% Tuesday morning, while Wyndham shares slipped 0.5%.

Google Loses App Store Lawsuit Against Epic Games

Alphabet's Google (GOOGL) 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:lost an antitrust case against "Fortnite" maker Epic Games alleging that Google's app Play Store maintained illegal monopoly power, in a d꧃ecision that could potentially disrupt a $200 billion app store industry.

Epic had filed a lawsuit against Google accusing the tech giant of engaging in anticompetitive practices by using its dominant position to suppress rival app stores and charge developers exorbitant fees of up to 30%.

The court indicated it will begin work on the remedies Google must implement to address the issue next month. Google said it intends to appeal the ruling and denies any wrongdoing, arguing that it operates in a highly competitive market alongside Apple's App Store.

Shares of Google parent Alphabet were down about 0.5% Tuesday morning, though they've gained over 50% so far this year.

-Fatima Attarwala

Oracle Shares Tank of Disappointing Revenue

Shares of Oracle (ORCL) sank about 10% early Tuesday after the cl🌟oud software company reported lower-than-expected revenue for the second quarter. 

Oracle reported second-quarter fiscal 2024 earnings of 89 cents per share, a 41% increase from the same period last year. Sales, however, declined in three of four reporting units. A 12% increase in cloud services revenue was partially offset by decreased sales in smaller units like cloud licensing and non-cloud services. That put total revenue up just 5% year-over-year at $12.94 billion, less than the $13 billion analysts were expecting. 

CEO Safra Catz said demand for cloud infrastructure and artificial intelligence services “is increasing at an astronomical rate.” Chair and CTO Larry E🍰llison echoed that 𓆉sentiment and said the company was in the process of building 100 new cloud data centers to meet booming demand.

Despite Tuesday’s loss🧸es, Oracle shares remained up more than 23% on the year, putting them s📖lightly ahead of the S&P 500, which has gained about 21% year-to-date. 

Stocks Making the Biggest Moves Premarket

Gains:

• Seagen Ltd. (SGEN): Shares rose 3% after Pfizer (PFE) said it had received all required regulatory approvals to complete its $43 billion acquisition of the biotech firm. The companies expect the deal to close on Dec. 14. Pfizer shares were little changed premarket. 
• Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Inc. (WH): Shares rose nearly 2% after Choice Hotels (CHH) said it was launching a hostile takeover bid to acquire the hotel operator. Choice is appealing directly to shareholders after 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:its first offer, made in October, was rejected by Wyndham’s board. 
• AstraZeneca Plc (AZN): Shares of the British pharmaceutical company gained more than 1% after it said it would acquire U.S. vaccine maker Icosavax for as much as $1.1 billion. 
  

Losses:

• Oracle Corp. (ORCL): Shares of the software company tumbled more than 9% after its third-quarter revenue came up short of Wall Street estimates.
• Hasbro Inc. (HAS): Shares of the toy company fell nearly 4% after it said it would lay off 1,100 employees as sales lag. 
• Airbnb Inc. (ABNB): The short-term rental company’s shares fell more than 2% after Barclays downgraded the stock to equal weight from overweight and lowered its price target. It was one of several travel stocks, including Expedia (EXPE), to get a downgrade at Barclays. 

Inflation Ticked Up Sligওhtly in November on Month-over-Month Basis

The Consumer Price Index rose 0.1% in November, a slight acceleration from last month when the index was unchanged. On a year-over-year basis, prices have increased by 3.1%, ticking down slightly from October's pace of 3.2%. 

Excluding ♈volatile food and energy costs, prices rose 0.3% last month, putting the annual core inflation rate at 4%, unchanged from October’s reading. 

Rising shelter costs offset a decline in the energy index, which itself was driven by a 6% decrease in gas prices. In addition to housing, medical care and car insurance inflation picked up last month.

Stock ♛Futures Up Ahead of N♈ovember Inflation Report

Futures contracts connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were 0.2% higher 🔯in early trading Tuesday.

S&P 500 futures gained 0.1%.

Nasdaq-100 🃏contracts were up 0.3% a little over an hour before markets opened.