Stocks have been higher since the outset of trading following former Vice President Joe Biden's strong showing last night in the Democratic primary voting held in 14 states. The market, which continues to also contend with a non-stop flow of coronavirus headlines, seems to be taking solace in the surge of the former VP, who is seen as much more friendly to stocks than his main contender for the nomination, Bernie Sanders. Following last night's voting, Mike Bloomberg announced he is leaving the race and endorsing Biden, stating via Twitter that "Defeating Trump starts with uniting behind the candidate with the best shot to do it."
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., ADP reported private payrolls increased 183,000 in February. Markit's services PMI was flat at 49.4 in the final February print, matching the preliminary reading. The ISM services reading increased 1.8 points to 57.3 in February, which was much better than forecast.
TOP NEWS: General Electric (GE) shares are in focus near noon after the company reaffirmed its outlook for fiscal 2020 and provided earnings guidance for the first quarter, noting that it is "closely monitoring" the coronavirus outbreak as an "evolving variable." The company said during the call that its outlook assumes that the Boeing (BA) 737 MAX will return to service in mid-2020 and that any further impact from coronavirus has not been incorporated into guidance beyond Q1.
Meanwhile, shares of managed care organizations and hospital stocks rose after former Vice President Joe Biden achieved primary victories across the South, Midwest, and New England on "Supet Tuesday." Biden won nine of 14 states yesterday, including Texas, North Carolina, Virginia, and Massachusetts. Meanwhile, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, who is a leading proponent of "Medicare for All," rolled to victories in Colorado, Utah, Vermont, and California. The former vice president's comeback has sent managed care organization and hospital stocks like Anthem (ANTM), Centene (CNC), CVS Health (CVS), Humana (HUM), Molina Healthcare (MOH), UnitedHealth (UNH), Community Health (CYH), and Tenet (THC) higher near noon.
On the earnings front, HP Enterprise (HPE) shares slid 7% after the company reported lower than expected revenue for the first quarter and reaffirmed its fiscal 2020 earnings outlook. Of note, CFO Tarek Robbiati said that revenue is unlikely to grow in fiscal 2020.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Covetrus (CVET), which rose 13% after naming Benjamin Wolin CEO and reporting quarterly results. Also higher after reporting quarterly results were Benefitfocus (BNFT) and Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), which gained a respective 7% and 8%.
Among the notable losers was Health Insurance Innovations (HIIQ), which fell 13% after it reported quarterly results, said it is still exploring strategic alternatives, and announced it will change its name to Benefytt Technologies. Also lower after reporting quarterly results were Cardlytics (CDLX) and Owens & Minor (OMI), which declined 35% and 18%, respectively.
INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was up 568.56, or 2.19%, to 26,485.97, the Nasdaq was up 147.31, or 1.70%, to 8,831.40, and the S&P 500 was up 57.81, or 1.92%, to 3,061.18.
General Electric
+0.01 (+0.09%)
UnitedHealth
+21.52 (+8.24%)
Ticker changed to ELV
+34.05 (+13.28%)
Centene
+6.37 (+11.78%)
CVS Health
+2.595 (+4.15%)
Humana
+40.16 (+12.33%)
Molina Healthcare
+14.22 (+11.62%)
Community Health
+0.365 (+7.31%)
Tenet Healthcare
+2.15 (+8.33%)
HP Enterprise
-0.86 (-6.84%)
Covetrus
+1.72 (+15.50%)
Benefitfocus
+0.85 (+7.44%)
Abercrombie & Fitch
+1.01 (+7.96%)
Health Insurance Innovations
-3.76 (-13.38%)
Cardlytics
-29.97 (-34.78%)
Owens & Minor
-1.21 (-18.06%)