Stocks Piggyback Off Last Week's Rally
The Dow is up over 290 points midday
Stock's are extending their morning gains into midday, looking to piggyback off of last week's wild rally. The Dow JonesIndustrial Average (DJI) is up over 290 points, while the S&P500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) are also trading well above breakeven at the halfway point. Optimism over the economy's reopening remains strong, with airline and retail stocks in particular gaining momentum. Oil meanwhile, is pulling back amid news that SaudiArabia's output cuts by the Organization for Petroleum and Energy Countries (OPEC) and its allies would not include more voluntary cuts from several Gulf producers. At last check, oil for July delivery is off 3.7% to trade at $38.23 per barrel.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc (NYSE:SPCE) is seeing an unusual surge in bullish activity in its options pits today, with 115,000 calls across the tapeso far -- double the intraday average -- compared to nearly 9,000 puts. Most popular is the weekly 6/12 17-strike call, followed by the 17.50-strike call in the same series, with positions being opened at both. This comes after the space travelcompany reported an open market sale of 12.3 million common shares, priced at $15.05 per share. At last glance, SPCE is up 7.6% at %16.97.
Enochian Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:ENOB) is scaling the Nasdaq today, up 122.8% to trade at $9.14 at last check. This comes after the drugmaker's the successful completion of an Initial Targeted Engagement for Regulatory Advice (INTERACT) meeting with the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies (OTAT). The meeting was focused on the next steps for its potential HIV cure ENOB-HV-01. The security charged toward a record high of $13.43 earliertoday, pushing past former pressure at the 320-day and 140-day moving averages. ENOB is now up over 166% this quarter alone.
Fellow biotech Opiant Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:OPNT) is languishing at the opposite end of the Nasdaq today, down 26.9% at $8.56 after Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA) won out in a patent litigation regarding the company's generic Narcannasal spray. The dip puts OPNT right back near its mid-March trough, pacing for its lowest close in almost three years.