Stocks opened little changed after rallying from sharply lower levels during the pre-market trading session. The monthly jobs data showed fewer than expected jobs were created in November, which gave the Fed another data point in their consideration of the pace of further interest rate hikes. The consumer confidence reading was in-line with expectations, but by the time that data was released the sellers were back out in force. Oil prices bounced off lows to gain more than 4% after OPEC agreed to cut production.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S.:
In energy news, AFP reported that Iraq said OPEC and its partners have agreed on 1.2M bpd output cut.
COMPANY NEWS: Shares of Cronos Group (CRON) surged 22% after Altria (MO) announced it will invest $1.8B for a roughly 45% stake in the Canadian cannabis company. As part of the deal, Altria will gain the right to nominate four directors, including one independent director, to serve on Cronos Group's board. Meanwhile, Altria also said it will discontinue its MarkTen and Green Smoke e-cigarette products and its Verve oral nicotine. Altria cited the current and expected financial performance of these products combined with regulatory restrictions that burden its ability to quickly improve these products. Altria shares are a bit over 1% higher near noon.
On the earnings front, Broadcom (AVGO) rose 1% after the company reported better than expected fouorth quarter results, raised its target dividend 51% to $2.65 for fiscal 2019, and announced an additional $6B share repurchase authorization. In addition, the company said that chairman James Diller notified the board that he will step down from his position and will not be standing for re-election as director at the company's 2019 annual meeting of stockholders. The company noted that Diller's decision is not due to any disagreement with Broadcom.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Aphria (APHA), which rose 7.5% after Citron Research said that the stock is "compelling on all metrics" in the wake of the Cronos-Altria deal. Also higher was American Outdoor Brands (AOBC), which gained 13% after reporting quarterly results.
Among the notable losers was Momo (MOMO), which slid 8% after Morgan Stanley analyst Alex Poon downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight to relect the impact of slowing growth at its top customers and threats to its live streaming business. Also lower were United Natural Foods (UNFI) and Big Lots (BIG), which each fell about 23% apiece after reporting quarterly results.
INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was down 45.84, or 1.70%, to 2,650.11, the Nasdaq was down 154.98, or 2.16%, to 7,033.28, and the S&P 500 was down 397.23, or 1.59%, to 24,550.44.
Cronos Group
+2.37 (+22.72%)
Altria Group
+0.75 (+1.38%)
Broadcom
+2.52 (+1.11%)
APHA
+
Changed to SWBI
+1.81 (+14.87%)
Hello Group
-2.16 (-8.00%)
United Natural Foods
-4.525 (-22.93%)
Big Lots
-9.31 (-23.11%)