Stocks rebounded from yesterday's declines after U.S. jobless claims data and following yesterday's release of minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting, in which the Fed said the U.S. economy is "far from" maximum employment. Despite today's snapback, concerns remain around a run of strong inflation data from China, U.S. and the Eurozone over the past few weeks, and that surging inflation will prompt the Fed to taper and raise rates sooner than previously anticipated.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., initial jobless claims fell 34,000 to 444,000 in the week ended May 15. The U.S. leading index rose 1.6% to 113.3 in April, a new all-time high and stronger than expected.
In crypto news, the U.S. Treasury Department detailed President Biden's proposed set of tax compliance measures "to foster a tax system where Americans pay the taxes they owe." The proposal includes additional resources for the Internal Revenue Service to address the growth of cryptoassets. Additionally, Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed intends to publish this summer a discussion paper that will explore the implications of technology for digital payments, with a particular focus on the possibility of issuing a U.S. central bank digital currency.
TOP NEWS: Cisco (CSCO) shares were fractionally higher after the company reported better-than-expected third quarter earnings and revenue and provided guidance for the fourth quarter. Of note, the company said that supply chain issues resulted in additional costs in Q3.
In other earnings news, Ralph Lauren (RL) shares fell 7% even after the company reported upbeat quarterly results and guided for revenue growth in the current quarter. Of note, the company reinstated its quarterly dividend, which was previously suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shares of Lordstown Motors (RIDE) fell 15.3% after Wolfe Research analyst Rod Lache downgraded the stock to Underperform from Peer Perform and slashed his price target on the shares to $1 form $18. The analyst said that Ford's (F) electric F-150 reinforces his view that Lordstown will not be competitive in the commercial electric vehicle pickup space. Lache, who was already questioning the competitiveness of Lordstown's $52,500 electric pickup truck for fleets, believes Ford's reveal of $39,900 and $49,900 electric pickups crystalizes his concerns.
Snap (SNAP) shares rose almost 6% after the social media company made a series of announcements on new products and services, including a partnership with Poshmark (POSH) to bring social shopping to Snapchat as well as new augmented reality tools. In addition, Snap unveiled the next generation of its Spectacles product.
Meanwhile, Robinhood (HOOD) announced that it is starting to roll out IPO Access, a new product that will give users the opportunity to purchase shares of companies at their IPO price, before trading on public exchanges.
In other IPO news, Oatly Group (OTLY) shares ended the session up 18.8% at $20.20 in its first day of trading. The stock opened for trade at $22.12 per share after being priced at $17.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Virgin Galactic (SPCE), which rose 14.7% after announcing that the next rocket-powered test flight of SpaceShipTwo Unity will be conducted on May 22, pending weather and technical checks. Also higher was ViacomCBS (VIAC), which gained 4.6% after BofA analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich double upgraded the stock to Buy from Underperform.
Among the notable losers was Black Diamond Therapeutics (BDTX), which declined 37.3% after presenting Phase 1 data for BDTX-189. Also lower were Triumph Group (TGI) and Kohl's (KSS), which fell a respective 8% and 10.2% after reporting quarterly results.
INDEXES: The Dow rose 188.11, or 0.55%, to 34,084.15, the Nasdaq gained 236.00, or 1.77%, to 13,535.74, and the S&P 500 advanced 43.44, or 1.06%, to 4,159.12.
Cisco
+0.43 (+0.82%)
Bitcoin
+
Bitcoin
+
Bitcoin
+
Dogecoin
+
Ethan Allen
+0.02 (+0.07%)
Ralph Lauren
-9.09 (-6.95%)
Lordstown Motors
-1.72 (-15.07%)
Ford
+0.365 (+3.01%)
Snap
+3.185 (+5.91%)
Poshmark
+3.28 (+9.29%)
Robinhood
+
Oatly Group
-1.83 (-8.27%)
Virgin Galactic
+2.56 (+14.84%)
Hormel Foods
+3.44 (+7.49%)
Black Diamond Therapeutics
-8.28 (-37.28%)
Triumph Group
-1.295 (-7.87%)
Kohl's
-6.13 (-10.17%)