Wall Street is weaker in afternoon trading as Chair Powell's uncertainty over the pace of the economic recovery has weighed on sentiment in an apparent delayed reaction to yesterday's policy update and press conference from the leader of the central bank. Meanwhile, profit taking may also be playing a role following the tech-led gains on Monday and Tuesday of this week.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., initial jobless claims fell 33,000 to 860,000 in the week ended September 12. Housing starts dipped 5.1% to a 1.416M pace in August. The Philly Fed index fell 2.2 points to 15.0 in September, which was weaker than expected.
TOP NEWS: Reports flooded in about ByteDance's proposed agreement with Oracle (ORCL) over TikTok, with CNBC reporting that President Donald Trump is expected to rule on the agreement in the next 24-36 hours. CNBC's David Faber noted in his reporting that under the proposed deal, Oracle will own roughly 20% of the new entity and Walmart (WMT) will be involved in some capacity. Meanwhile, Bloomberg said that the U.S. Treasury Department sent ByteDance a revised terms sheet late yesterday and the company and Oracle have accepted it. The changes address national security concerns about the deal, according to Bloomberg.
Shares of AstraZeneca (AZN) were in focus after CNN said that an internal safety report by the company sheds light on the neurological condition suffered by one of the participants in its coronavirus vaccine clinical trial, detailing how the 37-year-old study volunteer "experienced confirmed transverse myelitis" after receiving her second dose of the vaccine, and was hospitalized on September 5." In response, AstraZeneca disputed the report, saying it contains "inaccuracies," including hte diagnosis, which is based on preliminary findings. The company added that the information shared by CNN "was not obtained from internal documents, but rather sent to investigators and doctors running trials that should not be shared because they contain confidential patient records."
Meanwhile, Moderna (MRNA) shares were 4% lower near 1 pm ET after CEO Stephan bancel said that the company anticipates a base plan for efficacy for the first interim readout of its coronavirus vaccine data to be in November and the best case scenario plan being in October. He also said October is unlikely, but it is possible and that the worst case scenario would be in December.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Sorrento Therapeutics (SRNE), which surged 11% after it received FDA clearance to proceed with its STI-1499 trial. Also higher was Herman Miller (MLHR), which gained 34% after reporting quarterly results.
Among the notable losers was Dave & Buster's (PLAY), which fell 25% after a Wall Street Journal report that the company has warned of bankruptcy potential. Also lower was Nano-X Imaging (NNOX), which declined 18% after Empire Financial Research's Whitney Tilson said that Citron's Andrew Left is right about Nano-X, as its "stock is worthless."
INDEXES: Near 1 pm ET, the Dow was down 211.02, or 0.75%, to 27,821.36, the Nasdaq was down 213.57, or 1.93%, to 10,836.90, and the S&P 500 was down 42.69, or 1.26%, to 3,342.80.
Oracle
-0.83 (-1.37%)
Walmart
+0.04 (+0.03%)
AstraZeneca
+0.56 (+1.02%)
Moderna
-2.89 (-4.20%)
Sorrento Therapeutics
+1 (+11.96%)
Herman Miller
+8.73 (+33.76%)
Dave & Buster's
-5.09 (-26.62%)
Nano-X Imaging
-6.24 (-16.96%)