Former White House National Economic Council chief economist Joseph Lavorgna predicts a ‘sharp’ cyclical downturn in the new year.
U.S. stocks picked up momentum in afternoon trading after the Food and Drug Administration approved Pfizer’s COVID-19 pill for use in adults and children ages 12 and older.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 35716.6 | +223.90 | +0.63% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 4685.93 | +36.70 | +0.79% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 15464.654222 | +123.57 | +0.81% |
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose over 200 points or 0.6% building on its 560 point advance on Tuesday while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose 0.7% and 0.7%, respectively.
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The FDA said an oral pill to treat the virus is a game-changer.
“Today’s authorization introduces the first treatment for COVID-19 that is in the form of a pill that is taken orally — a major step forward in the fight against this global pandemic,” said Patrizia Cavazzoni, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research in a statement. Merck is also waiting on the FDA for its oral treatment.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PFE | PFIZER INC. | 60.00 | +1.05 | +1.78% |
| MRK | MERCK & CO. INC. | 76.22 | +0.67 | +0.89% |
Other vaccine makers remain active among investors as rising cases of COVID-19 get reported and as Americans seek booster shots.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MRNA | MODERNA INC. | 249.98 | -18.16 | -6.77% |
| PFE | PFIZER INC. | 60.00 | +1.05 | +1.78% |
| BNTX | BIONTECH SE | 258.45 | -13.01 | -4.79% |
Tesla shares were higher after CEO Elon Musk signaled his year-end stock selling spree is over, for now, according to an interview he gave to the Babylon Bee.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TSLA | TESLA INC. | 997.65 | +59.12 | +6.30% |
Caterpillar was the Dow’s top stock after Bernstein upgraded the stock to an outperform forecasting the shares can hit the $240 level.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAT | CATERPILLAR INC. | 202.04 | +3.70 | +1.87% |
| DE | DEERE & CO. | 345.69 | -4.13 | -1.18% |
Amazon shares also rose despite another morning outage of AWS – its cloud service.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMZN | AMAZON.COM INC. | 3,421.80 | +13.46 | +0.39% |
In earnings, BlackBerry shares slipped even though it reported better than expected quarterly results. Through Tuesday, the shares have gained 39%.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BB | BLACKBERRY LTD. | 9.14 | -0.11 | -1.17% |
Apparel maker Naked Brand is active as it begins trading post a 1-for-15 split-adjusted basis.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NKBD | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
US PENDING HOME SALES UNEXPECTEDLY FALL IN SEPTEMBER
GDP for the third quarter rose a better-than-expected 2.3% but trailed the robust 6.7% jump in the second quarter.
Existing home sales for the month of November rose 1.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.46 million units. Slightly below estimates.
andconsumer confidence jumped to a reading of 115.8, ahead of November’s 109.5 read.
In commodities, oil was marginally higher holding at the $71 per barrel level even with an unexpected 4.7 million barrel drop in weekly inventories as reported by the EIA.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USO | UNITED STATES OIL FUND L.P. | 51.99 | +0.40 | +0.78% |
MAERSK STRIKES DEAL TO BUY LF LOGISTICS FOR $3.6 BLN
In global deals, AP Moeller-Maersk AS said it has agreed to buy LF Logistics Holdings Ltd. in an all-cash deal. The Danish shipping company said it would acquire 100% of the private, Asia-Pacific-based logistics company for an enterprise value of $3.6 billion.
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FOX Business’ Ken Martin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.