The major averages were mixed at midday, but finished with gains across the board for the Nasdaq, S&P and Dow despite an unexpected increase in initial jobless claims following four weekly declines. Concern over the surge in virus cases and the return of increasingly stringent restrictions, as typified by New York City closing down in-person schooling, may fuel some risk aversion but for another day the market rose in the face of those worries.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., initial jobless claims gained 31,000 to 742,000 in the week ended November 14. The Philly Fed index dropped 6 points to 26.3 in November. Existing home sales rose another 4.3% to a 6.85M rate in October. The index of leading indicators rose 0.7% in October to 108.2.
In COVID-19 news, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo announced a two-week statewide "pause" from November 30 to December 13, 2020. During the "pause" period, in-person schooling will continue for pre-K to grade 8 children, with limited in-person schooling for high-school aged children. Offices in the state, when possible, will be closed, as will bars and gyms.
Meanwhile, CNBC reported that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has agreed to continue talks with Democrats over a potential new COVID-19 aid package as cases still surge across the nation.
TOP NEWS: Shares of Nvidia (NVDA) closed fractionally higher after the company reported better than expected third quarter results but provided weaker than expected data center guidance for the fourth quarter. Of note, Nvidia said that it expects its gaming segment to be up sequentially in Q4, despite it being a seasonally down quarter.
Also on the earnings front, L Brands (LB) shares jumped 17.4% after the company reported better than expected Q3 earnings and revenue, with comparable store sales for the quarter rising 28% year-over-year. Looking ahead, L Brands said it has a "cautious" view of Q4, therefore it did not provide guidance. The company added that it believes it is at the beginning of a "very significant" turnaround.
In COVID-19 news, BioNTech (BNTX) CEO Ugur Sahin told CNN that the company and its partner Pfizer (PFE) will file paperwork for the emergency use of their COVID-19 vaccine with the Food and Drug Administration tomorrow. Sahin expects the vaccine's approval process to be completed and distribution to begin before the end of 2020. "Depending on how fast this is really accomplished, we might get an authorization, or conditional approval already in 2020 which might help us start distribution of the first vaccine batches already in 2020," Sahin added.
In M&A news, Nasdaq (NDAQ) shares rose 1.65% after the company agreed to acquire Verafin, an "industry pioneer" in anti-financial crime management solutions, for $2.75B in cash. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021.
Meanwhile, Verizon (VZ) announced that BuzzFeed will acquire HuffPost from Verizon Media, with an investment making Verizon Media a minority shareholder in BuzzFeed. As part of the agreement, Verizon Media and BuzzFeed agree to syndicate content across each other's platforms. Additional terms of the deal were not disclosed.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Corcept Therapeutics (CORT), which rose 25.6% after the company secured a win over Teva (TEVA) in Teva's challenge of its Korlym Label patent. Also higher were Nuance (NUAN) and Sonos (SONO), which gained a respective 17% and 29.8% after reporting quarterly results.
Among the notable losers was Ebang (EBON), which declined over 26% after it priced its follow-on public offering of 4M units at $5.25 per unit. Also lower was GoPro (GPRO), which fell 13.6% after announcing a $100M convertible senior notes offering.
INDEXES: The Dow rose 44.81, or 0.15%, to 29,483.23, the Nasdaq gained 103.11, or 0.87%, to 11,904.71, and the S&P 500 advanced 14.08, or 0.39%, to 3,581.87.
Nvidia
+0.61 (+0.11%)
L Brands
+5.905 (+17.51%)
BioNTech
+4.37 (+4.83%)
Pfizer
-0.12 (-0.33%)
Nasdaq
+2.1 (+1.71%)
Verizon
-0.12 (-0.20%)
Corcept Therapeutics
+4.75 (+25.41%)
Teva
-0.12 (-1.27%)
Nuance
+5.65 (+16.61%)
Sonos
+5.12 (+29.98%)
Ebang
-1.91 (-26.42%)
GoPro
-1.1 (-13.75%)