Stock Market Today Mid-Morning Updates
On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down by 200 points. This is after the markets clawed back from record intraday lows late Monday, following extended losses. Worries over sooner-than-expected interest rate hikes have hampered investor optimism heading into the new year. However, Treasury yields have ticked down after the benchmark 10-year yield topped 1.8% on Monday, reaching its highest level since January 2020. The central bank’s monetary policy will likely continue to be in focus this week.
Accordingly, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest Consumer Price Index will also be in the limelight as investors gain insight into inflationary pressures and the Fed’s response towards it. Companies like Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN) are leading the S&P 500 today. This comes after the company issued a 2022 revenue outlook that exceeded consensus analysts’ estimates, noting a strong demand for its gene sequencing treatments as well as new partnerships with four health care companies. Elsewhere, Rivian (NASDAQ: RIVN) is down after news of its COO Rod Copes leaving the company.
Among the Dow Jones leaders, shares of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) are down by 0.27% on Tuesday while Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is also down 0.96%. Home Depot (NYSE: HD) and Nike (NYSE: NKE) are down 0.27% and 0.29% respectively today. Also, among the Dow 30, financial leaders like Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) are trading on the downside.
Shares of electric vehicle (EV) leader Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) are down 0.14% on Tuesday. Rival EV companies like Rivian are also down 1.82% today while Lucid Group (NASDAQ: LCID) is up by 1.10%. Chinese EV leaders like Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) and Xpeng Motors (NYSE: XPEV) are trading higher at 2.14% and 2.04% respectively.
Dow Jones Today: Investors Await Testimony From Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
Following the stock market opening on Tuesday, the S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq are trading 1.33%, 0.89%, and 1.83%% lower respectively. Among exchange-traded funds, the Nasdaq 100 tracker Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ) tumbled at 0.59% Tuesday, while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA: SPY) is also down by 0.60%.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled for his renomination confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee at 10:00 a.m. ET. He expects to be questioned for a few hours on topics from rate hikes and policy. The hearing will be live-streamed on various channels. Investors could see this as an opportunity to gain information on the Fed’s current views on inflation and speed of policy tightening.
“Over the past four years, my colleagues and I have continued the work of our predecessors to ensure a strong and resilient financial system. We increased capital and liquidity requirements for the largest banks—and currently, capital and liquidity levels at our largest, most systemically important banks are at multidecade highs. We worked to improve the public’s access to instant payments, intensified our focus and supervisory efforts on evolving threats such as climate change and cyberattacks, and expanded our analysis and monitoring of financial stability.” Powell said in prepared remarks.
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Tesla Sees Record Sales In China-Made Vehicles For December; Receives $1,300 Price Target Upgrade From Morgan Stanley
Tesla continues to make waves in the stock market today due to a variety of reasons. For starters, the EV titan continues to gain ground in the booming Chinese market. This is evident from recent data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) earlier today. In detail, the CPCA notes that Tesla’s December sales figures for its China-made vehicles now stand at 70,847 units. Notably, this marks a record high for Tesla’s monthly sales in the region. To put things into perspective, the company’s current sales are almost three times greater compared to the same month last year. Month-over-month, it is currently looking at a 34% increase.
At the same time, analysts over at Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) also see some major upside for TSLA stock. In particular, analyst Adam Jonas is hiking his price target for the company’s shares to $1,300 from $1,200. Additionally, Jonas is also reiterating his Overweight rating on the EV giant. Overall, the analyst cites Tesla’s latest quarterly delivery figures coming in higher than his estimates.
In fact, the company posted a year-over-year surge of 70% for its fourth-quarter deliveries. As such, Jonas is also raising his full-year vehicle delivery forecast to 1.46 million units from 1.22 million. To top it all off, Goldman Sachsalso named TSLA stock a “Top Pick for 2022” earlier today. Given all of this, some would argue that it could be worth considering in the long-term now. This would be despite TSLA stock trading lower by 1.29% as of today’s opening bell.
Juniper Networks Jumps On Double Upgrade From BofA Citing Possible Industry Tailwinds
In other news, Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR) seems to be riding the momentum from recent analyst coverage. For the most part, this is thanks to an upgrade from analysts over at Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) earlier today.
Notably, analyst Tal Lian hit JNPR stock with a Buy rating, double upgrading it from Underperform. Lian also sees a price target of $40 for the company’s shares. The analyst argues that the data networking industry, where Juniper is based, is “ripe for growth” in 2022. Subsequently, Lian notes that as telecom carriers look to bolster their network capacities and 5G investments rise, Juniper stands to benefit. As a result of all this, JNPR stock is now up by 2.55% as of today’s opening bell.
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CVS Bumps 2021 Sales Forecast As Demand For Coronavirus Vaccines And Tests Add To Retail Momentum
CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) is raising its adjusted earnings forecast for the fiscal year 2021. The company is raising its outlook for 2021 adjusted profit per share to a range of $8.33 to $8.38. Not to mention, this is versus its previous estimates of at least $8.00.
To highlight, the company cites strong retail sales as a main contributing factor for this move. Among the core areas driving growth for CVS now would be rising demand for coronavirus vaccines. Moreover, the company is also seeing a similar trend in demand for over-the-counter testing. Given the rising prominence of the highly infectious Omicron coronavirus variant, this is not surprising. As it stands, CVS stock is now gaining by 0.94%.
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