The major averages are higher at midday, supported by vaccine optimism and stimulus hopes. The FDA told advisors ahead of an upcoming meeting that it views Moderna's vaccine as "highly effective," paving the way for the potential approval of a second shot as early as this week while Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine is currently being distributed across the U.S. Meanwhile, expectations for fiscal stimulus perked up after a new relief package was presented yesterday that totaled $748B but excluded the controversial aid to states and liability protections that have doomed prior attempts at passing a bill.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., import prices edged up 0.1% and export prices rose 0.6% in November. Industrial production rose 0.4% in November, which was better than expected. The Empire State manufacturing PMI fell 1.4 points to 4.9 in December, marking its third consecutive monthly slide, but also a sixth straight month in expansion territory.
TOP NEWS: Shares of Eli Lilly (LLY) rose 4% after the company announced a definitive agreement to acquire Prevail Therapeutics (PRVL) for $22.50 per share in cash payable at closing plus one non-tradable contingent value right, or CVR, worth up to $4.00 per share in cash, for a total consideration of up to $26.50 per share in cash, or an aggregate of approximately $1.04B. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021. Along with the announcement, Lilly also raised its fiscal 2020 earnings and revenue guidance and provided upbeat guidance for fiscal 2021. Prevail shares have surged 82% higher after the deal news.
Moderna (MRNA) shares are in focus after the FDA released briefing documents on the company's COVID-19 vaccine candidate ahead of a December 17 advisory panel, saying that the two-dose vaccine regimen was "highly effective" in preventing PCR-confirmed COVID-19 occurring at least 14 days after receipt of the second dose. CBC News later reported that the Canadian government has reached an agreement with Moderna that would sees doses of its vaccine shipped to the country within 48 hours of Health Canada approval.
Shares of Wells Fargo (WFC) rose 2% after Keefe Bruyette analyst Brian Kleinhanzl upgraded the stock to Outperform from Market Perform and raised his price target on the shares to $36 from $28. The analyst said the bank's longer-term prospects "are still substantial" and the stock's current valuation provides an attractive entry point.
Meanwhile, Apple (AAPL) shares are up nearly 4% at midday after Nikkei Asia's Lauly Li and Cheng Ting-Fang reported that the tech giant plans to produce up to 96M iPhones for the first half of 2021, which would equate to a nearly 30% increase in year-on-year production.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the notable losers was OncoCyte (OCX), which surged 33% after Burning Rock Biotech (BNR) announced that it entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with the company to bring DetermaRx, a risk stratification test for early stage lung cancer patients, to China. Also higher was Arvinas (ARVN), which rose another 18% after analysts at Roth Capital and Citi raised their price targets on the shares following updates the company issued yesterday.
Among the notable losers was Mirum Pharmaceuticals (MIRM), which declined 21% after it filed to sell $75M of common stock. Also lower was Mesoblast (MESO), which fell 19% after announcing there was no reduction in recurrent non-fatal decompensated heart failure events, which was the trial's primary endpoint, in its DREAM-HF study.
INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was up 215.07, or 0.72%, to 30,076.62, the Nasdaq was up 83.57, or 0.67%, to 12,523.61, and the S&P 500 was up 27.94, or 0.77%, to 3,675.43.
Eli Lilly
+5.99 (+3.79%)
Bought by LLY
+10.38 (+83.31%)
Moderna
-6.32 (-4.07%)
Wells Fargo
+0.63 (+2.20%)
Apple
+4.25 (+3.49%)
OncoCyte
+0.71 (+33.49%)
Burning Rock Biotech
-0.95 (-3.83%)
Arvinas
+10.16 (+17.42%)
Mirum Pharmaceuticals
-5.12 (-21.22%)
Mesoblast
-3.25 (-19.29%)