Stock Futures Spiral Amid Renewed Pandemic Fears
There's been a spike in coronavirus cases in California and Texas
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) are down over 800 points this morning, as Wall Street gets rocked by fears of a potential second wave of coronavirus amid a spike in cases from states such as California and Texas. Accordingto Johns Hopkins University, COVID-19 cases have crossed the 2 million mark, with over 112,000 deaths.
Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) and S&P 500 (SPX) futures are also sharply below fair value, with the former set for an extensive pullback from Wednesday's record highs. The latest weekly jobless claims -- which fell by 1.54 million compared to the expected 1.6 million -- has done little to cheer themarket so far, while investors remain wary of the Federal Reserve's comments yesterday that the U.S. economy could contract by 6.6% in 2020. Oil prices are also sinking this morning, with July-dated crude last seen down 6.8% at $36.92 per barrel.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
The oil and gas stock attracting options bears. Adobe stock hit new highs yesterdayahead of earnings today. Plus, GrubHub's billion-dollar deal; Eli Lilly eyes potential coronavirus vaccine; and Beyond Meat expands in Europe.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 2.2 million call contracts traded on Wednesday, and 1 million put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.45, and the 21-day moving average fell to 0.50.GrubHub Inc (NYSE:GRUB) is up 8.8% before the bell, after Just Eat Takeaway acquired the company for $7.3 billion in an all-stock deal that creates the biggest food delivery service outside of China. After the news came aslew of analyst updates, including no fewer than three downgrades, four price-target hikes, and one price-target cut. For the quarter, GRUB is up 45%. The shares of Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) are down 1.1% in electronic trading this morning, despite the drugmaker's announcement last night that a COVID-19 treatment could receive authorization for use by September. The timelinewill depend on the test results from two antibody therapies, with another antibody treatment in pre-clinical studies. Eli Lilly stock is up 15% in 2020 heading into today. The shares of Beyond Meat Inc (NASDAQ:BYND) are down 5.2% pre-market, after the plant-based giant announced the expansion of its manufacturing capabilities in Europe. The Netherlands factory is anticipated to be operational by the end of the year, and the stock is up 88% in the last three months, and has support in place at its 20-day movingaverage.Today will bring earnings reports from Adobe (ADBE) and Lululemon Athletica (LULU), while Wall Street will be on the lookout for the producer price index.
Overseas Stocks Spiraling as Well
The Fed's decision to keep interest rates near zero through 2022 sent stocks in Asia spiraling today. Japan's Nikkei suffered the worst loss, sliding 2.8%. Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was off 2.3%, despite shares of internettechnology company NetEase (NTES) surging in their Hong Kong debut. Elsewhere, South Korea's Kospi lost 0.9% and China's Shanghai Composite slid 0.8%.
For much of the same reason, stocks in Europe are off today as well, though fears of a second wave of COVID-19 infections also have investors on edge. At last check, France's CAC 40 is off 2.7%, followed closely by the German DAX, whichwas last seen down 2.6%. Meanwhile, London's FTSE 100 is currently trading 2.5% lower.