A positive open on Wall Street propeled the indexes further into record high territory, though they couldn't hold there and ended the day with losses across the board. The passage of the U.S. stimulus deal, the Christmas Eve Brexit compromise and the continued roll-out of vaccines continues to underpin risk-on sentiment, though investors seem to be mildly disappointed that it appears lawmakers have not yet been able to strike a deal to bump up the amount of aid the government will soon be sending to Americans.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., the S&P Case Shiller 20-City home price index rose 1.3% to 235.8 in October, which was another record peak and better than expected.
In Capitol Hill news, Senate Republicans, led by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, blocked an attempt by Democrats to increase stimulus payments in the COVID-19 relief bill from $600 to $2,000 per qualifying adult.
TOP NEWS: Shares of Intel jumped almost 5% after both Reuters and CNBC reported that activist hedge fund Third Point has built a nearly $1B position and is pushing the chipmaker to explore strategic alternatives. In response, Intel said it "welcomes input from all investors regarding enhanced shareholder value." It added, "In that spirit, we look forward to engaging with Third Point LLC on their ideas towards that goal."
Shares of Arcturus Therapeutics (ARCT) plunged over 54% as the market expressed significant disappointment with a Phase 1/2 data update for its COVID-19 mRNA vaccine candidate, ARCT-021.
Boeing (BA) shares closed fractionally higher after American Airlines (AAL) restarted its 737 MAX commercial flights today following the FAA lifting restrictions on the long-grounded aircraft last month.
Lingling Wei of The Wall Street Journal reported, citing Chinese officials and government advisers familiar with the matter, that China's government is seeking to shrink Jack Ma's technology and financial empire and potentially take a larger stake in his businesses. Ma founded both online-payment provider and loan maker Ant Group and its e-commerce affiliate Alibaba Group (BABA).
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Immersion (IMMR), which rose 37.4% after Colliers analyst Charles Anderson raised the firm's price target to $15 and reiterated a Buy rating on the shares, citing the view that Sony's (SNE) PlayStation 5 is a "breakthrough" for Immersion' haptics technology. Also higher was Caesarstone (CSTE), which gained 20.3% after Benchmark analyst Reuben Garner initiated coverage with a Buy rating and $16 price target, calling the stock a "rare housing vaccine play."
Among the notable losers was Actinium Pharmaceuticals (ATNM), which dropped 24.6% after announcing that the independent Data Monitoring Committee for the pivotal Phase 3 SIERRA study of Iomab-B for bone marrow transplant conditioning in patients over the age of 55 with active relapsed or refractory Acute Myeloid Leukemia recommended that the study continue as planned to full enrollment of 150 patients. Also lower was Seer (SEER), which fell over 14% after analysts began to roll out coverage of the stock following the company's IPO. Among them, BofA analyst Derik de Bruin initiated coverage of Seer with a Neutral rating and $69 price target while Morgan Stanley analyst Tejas Savant initiated coverage with an Equal Weight rating and $65 target.
INDEXES: The Dow lost 68.30, or 0.22%, to 30,335.67, the Nasdaq fell 49.20, or 0.38%, to 12,850.22, and the S&P 500 declined 8.32, or 0.22%, to 3,727.04.
Intel
+2.29 (+4.86%)
Arcturus Therapeutics
-49.99 (-54.13%)
Boeing
+0.2 (+0.09%)
American Airlines
-0.205 (-1.28%)
Immersion
+3.47 (+36.84%)
Symbol now SONY
+2.5 (+2.55%)
Caesarstone
+2.17 (+20.15%)
Seer
-9.07 (-14.06%)
Actinium Pharmaceuticals
-2.57 (-24.09%)