Stock Market Today Mid-Morning Updates
On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average opened flat today as investors eagerly await for May’s inflation data, due for release on Friday. Also, the European Central Bank on Thursday, announced that it will hike interest rates at its policy meeting next month. It will also downgrade its growth forecasts. The EU was hit by a fresh record high inflation of 8.1% in May. The Governing Council of the central bank plans to raise its key interest rates by 25 basis points in its July meeting.
Shares of Target (NYSE: TGT) are in focus today after the company announced a 20% dividend hike. The company will increase its quarterly payout to $1.08 per share. This follows after recently announcing a downbeat short-term profit guidance. Signet Jewelers (NYSE: SIG) is up by 8% today after reporting a better-than-expected quarterly revenue and earnings. Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX) is down by 5% on today’s opening bell following news that the U.S Food and Drug Administration could delay the approval of Novavax’s coronavirus vaccine.
Among the Dow Jones leaders, shares of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) are down by 0.82% today while Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is up by 0.48%. Meanwhile, Disney (NYSE: DIS) and Nike (NYSE: NKE) are trading lower on Thursday. Among the Dow financial leaders, Visa (NYSE: V) is down by 0.92% while JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) is down by 0.74%
Shares of EV leader Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) are up by 4.08% on Thursday. Rival EV companies like Rivian (NASDAQ: RIVN) are also up by 0.03%. Lucid Group (NASDAQ: LCID) is down by 1.74% today. Chinese EV leaders like Nio (NYSE: NIO) and Xpeng Motors (NYSE: XPEV) are trading lower today as well.
Dow Jones Today: U.S. Treasury Yields Trades Over 3%; Oil Prices Stagnate After Breaching $120 Per Barrel
Following the stock market opening on Thursday, the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq are trading lower at 0.19%, 0.15%, and 0.23% respectively. Among exchange-traded funds, the Nasdaq 100 tracker Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ) is down by 0.08% while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA: SPY) is also down by 0.18%.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield continues to stay above the 3% on Thursday, after jumping above the psychological 3% mark on Wednesday. Government bond prices that move inversely to yields have begun declining this week. Tech stocks in particular are under pressure from higher interest rates as they normally have significant cash flows projected in the future.
Oil prices are trading sideways right now, with the U.S. Texas Intermediate crude is trading at $121 per barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, is also trading sideways at $123 power barrel. The rise in oil prices comes as China has begun easing lockdowns around key cities. This reopening could spur more demand while supply concerns persist around the world.
[Read More] Top Stock Market News For Today June 9, 2022
Tesla Stock Edges Higher On UBS Upgrade & Solid May China Sales Data
Today, Tesla was upgraded by UBS Group (NYSE: UBS) to a Buy rating from a Neutral rating. Analyst Patrick Hummel says that the recent stock market slide has provided an attractive entry point for a high-growth business like Tesla. He also maintained his price target at $1,100. Given that there is a record-high order backlog and the ramping up of two gigafactories, Hummel says that the operational outlook for Tesla is stronger than ever.
Furthermore, Tesla also has a full vertical integration in semiconductors, software, and batteries. This would all play a key role in growth and profitability in the years ahead. Hummel also had this to say, “Tesla can outgrow peers with a combination of in-house cell capacity, its lead vs. global competitors in using LFP cells and its high share of directly sourced battery commodities, lithium above all.” The EV company has been in the limelight recently. CEO Elon Musk announced last week that the company will be cutting 10% of salaried employees and instead rely on more hourly workers.
According to reports from the China Passenger Car Association, Tesla sold 32,165 China-made cars last month. This was a significant increase from just 1,152 cars in April. April’s figures were the lowest in two years after the company’s Shanghai gigafactory was closed for over 20 days. This was due to strict coronavirus lockdowns in Shanghai. On top of that, Cathie Wood of Ark Innovation ETF (NYSE: ARKK) also announced recently that they have added around 50,000 shares of Tesla over the past two weeks, following the stock’s extended slump. All things considered, should investors still be on the lookout for TSLA stock?
[Read More] 4 Top Electric Vehicle Stocks To Watch Right Now
Alibaba Stock Tumbles After China Regulator Denies Report On Ant IPO Revival
Meanwhile, shares of Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) are down today after Chinese finance regulators announced that it was not working on reviving an IPO of Ant Group. This comes after reports from Bloomberg mentioned that China’s regulators were mulling a revival of an IPO for Ant Group. The report comes as the country begins to ease crackdowns on tech companies in China. Ant Group is an affiliate company of Alibaba. It also owns China’s largest digital payment platform, Alipay, which serves over 1 billion users and 80 million merchants.
Back in October 2020, Ant Group was on the verge of being the world’s largest IPO at that time. Notably, it raised $34.5 billion and at a valuation of over $313 billion. On the eve of the IPO however, China stopped the process from moving forward. Flash forward to today, Reuters also reported that China’s central leadership has given the initial nod for Ant Group to start its IPO plan in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Ant Group is said to plan to file a preliminary IPO prospectus as early as next month. Given this piece of news, BABA stock would be in focus today.
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