Stocks Blast Off on Positive Trade Headlines
The Dow is sporting a massive lead halfway through the day
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is up big at midday, as Wall Street reacts to a round of positive trade headlines. Maybe most notably, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that China could give foreign companies greater access in the country, on top of news that President Donald Trump may intervene in the case of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou if it'll help trade relations.
This has the Dow, S&P 500 Index (SPX), and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) all sporting massive gains, and the tech sector is leading the charge. Traders are also monitoring the initial public offering (IPO) of China's Tencent Music Entertainment (TME), with the U.S.-listed shares last seen up more than 11%.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
Jefferies named a holiday season winner out of the video game sector. Oversold Bank of America just got hit with a bear note. Plus, weekly Starbucks calls popular; Twilio jumps to new high; and a sinking drugmaker.
One name seeing unusual options trading is Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX). Call volume is much higher than normal thanks to heavy attention at the weekly 12/14 67-strike call, where data suggests buy-to-open activity could be taking place. These bulls would be betting on SBUX stock rising above the $67 level by Friday's close, when the weeklies expire. The coffee concern was last seen up 0.8% at $66.48.
One notable winner on the New York Stock Exchange is cloud stock Twilio Inc (NYSE:TWLO), as the shares continue their big year and trade at record highs. Specifically, TWLO is up 7.6% at $99.80, after touching an all-time best of $100.47. The gains likely come thanks to the broader tech rally, and bring the security's one-year rise to right near 300%.
On the Nasdaq, Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX) is taking a nosedive, tanking 21.9% to trade at $66.95. In fact, the shares earlier hit a 52-week low of $64.72, after disappointing trial data for the company's Tourette's drug. NBIX stock was trading near $127 as recently as mid-September.
