BNY Mellon Investments chief strategist Alicia Levine on her outlook for the stock market and bitcoin.
US stock markets had changed little on Wednesday morning as the COVID-19 stimulus talks progressed and investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates.
| Ticker | Safety | Last | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I: DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGE | 30195.52 | -3.79 | -0.01% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 3698.63 | +4.01 | + 0.11% |
| I: COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 12614.059187 | +19.00 | + 0.15% |
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 fell about 0.1% each during the first minutes of trading. The Nasdaq Composite briefly hit a new record before dropping lower.
Negotiations between Democrats and Republicans over coronavirus control are “ getting closer ” to a deal, Kentucky Senate Leader Mitch McConnell said late Tuesday regarding a $ 908 billion bipartisan package split into two parts – a $ 748 billion bill that includes additional funding from the Paycheck Protection Program and unemployment benefits, and a $ 160 billion bill that provides funding for state and local governments and corporate liability protection.
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Economic data on Wednesday morning showed retail sales fell 1.1% month-on-month in November, worse than the 0.3% drop that analysts polled by Refinitiv expected.
| Ticker | Safety | Last | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WMT | WALMART INC. | 146.45 | +0.88 | + 0.60% |
| TGT | TARGET CORP. | 172.76 | +1.31 | + 0.76% |
| AMZN | AMAZON.COM INC. | 3,204.00 | +38.88 | + 1.23% |
Looking at the stock, Southwest Airlines Co. Wednesday that it plans to take delivery of 35 Boeing 737 Max aircraft by the end of 2021 and that the aircraft should rejoin the fleet in March. The company said rising December cancellations will lead to a cash burn of about $ 12 million a day in the fourth quarter, up from $ 10 million to $ 11 million.
| Ticker | Safety | Last | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LUV | SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO. | 45.69 | -0.73 | -1.58% |
| BA | BOEING COMPANY | 229.57 | +0.13 | + 0.06% |
In mergers and acquisitions, Canadian cannabis producers are Aphria Inc. and Tilray Inc. agreed to merge their operations, creating a company worth 5 billion Canadian dollars ($ 3.9 billion). The new company, which will trade under Tilray’s ticker, will be 62% owned by Aphria shareholders, who will pay a 23% premium for Tilray stock.
| Ticker | Safety | Last | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TLRY | TILRAY INC | 9.50 | +1.63 | + 20.71% |
| APHA | APHRIA | 8.25 | +0.13 | + 1.60% |
Elsewhere, weapons maker American Outdoor Brands reported that quarterly sales were up 66% from a year as demand for firearms grew as more people spent time in outdoor activities, such as hunting, amid the pandemic.
| Ticker | Safety | Last | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AOUT | AMERICAN OUTDOOR BRANDS INC. | 18.19 | +2.35 | + 14.85% |
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Twitter Inc. was upgraded to overweight at JP Morgan, which raised its price target from $ 52 to $ 65 a share, citing strong sustained growth among US Internet companies. Other companies that received price increases from JP Morgan included Alphabet Inc., Snap Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc.
| Ticker | Safety | Last | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TWTR | TWITTER INC. | 55.69 | +2.84 | + 5.37% |
Shares of Chinese streaming video company iQiyi Inc. were sharply lower after the company announced a secondary offering of convertible bonds and US deposit shares.
The last Federal Reserve meeting on interest rates this year will close at 2 p.m. ET. Economists are divided on whether the central bank, which is expected to provide an optimistic view of the economy, will adjust its bond buying program. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s press conference kicks off at 2:30 p.m. ET.
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In terms of commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 16 cents to $ 47.46 a barrel, while gold rose $ 6.60 to $ 1,861.90 an ounce.
European markets were mixed with the German DAX 30 at 1.25% and the UK FTSE 100 at 0.53%, while the CAC 40 in France was down 0.13%.
In Asia, the Hong Kong Hang Seng index rose 0.97%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 by 0.26% and the Chinese Shanghai Composite by 0.01%.