US markets finished in the green yesterday, with the S&P 500 and NASDAQ once again approaching record highs.
Optimistic caution appears to be the strategy of the week as last week's sellers tentatively return.
Friday's CPI report is expected to reiterate the 'inflation-is-here-to-stay' narrative, which is likely to keep a lid on exuberant buying. And experienced investors are aware that next week's FOMC meet may bring bearish sentiment as stocks have sold off after these recent events. It's widely expected the Fed will accelerate its tapering program (UBS, Nomura, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo).
In the latest COVID-19 news, it's reported that the Omicron variant is thought to be four times more transmissible than the Delta variant. However, it's still considered to be mild. Markets are likely to be concerned about possible lockdowns or government restrictions.
Despite the apparent market bounce this week, Goldman Sachs pointed out that the last two weeks saw the largest 10-day net selling in US equities since April 2020.
In geopolitical news, the US House of Representatives passed a bill to punish China over Xinjiang abuses. Biden will not send troops to Ukraine. The UK has threatened to impose punitive duties on US goods if Washington does not lift Trump-era steel and aluminum tariffs.
| NASDAQ | S&P 500 | BITCOIN |
|---|---|---|
| 15,786.99 (+0.64%) | 4,701.21 (+0.31%) | 49,546.82 (+1.01%) |
Here are some trending stocks:
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is closing in on a $3T market cap. As the Apple, Epic Games court case continues, Apple won its request to delay implementing a federal order that will force it to allow developers to discuss alternative payment methods to the App Store.
Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) has been fined $1.2bn by Italy's antitrust regulator.
Roku (NASDAQ: ROKU) shares rise as it makes a deal to restore the YouTube TV app.
Biocon (NSE: BIOCON) and Mylan (Viatris (NASDAQ: VTRS)) are reportedly in advanced talks to merge their biosimilar units and publicly list via IPO. The combined entity is expected to seek a valuation of over $10bn.
Alerus (NASDAQ: ALRS) is acquiring Metro Phoenix Bank to merge into Alerus Financial.
Lucid Group (NASDAQ: LCID) to sell $1.75bn of convertible senior notes. Shares are down.
Rolls-Royce (LON: RR) shares are down on virus worries. Its trading upbeat was positive with good results in restructuring program and continued streamlining. The company expects its free cash outflow in the fiscal year 2021 to be better than its previous guidance of $2.64bn.
Meatech 3D (NASDAQ: MITC) shares rose after successfully printing the world's largest lab-grown steak.
ARK Genomic Revolution ETF (BATS: ARKG) has seen its share price rise 7.8% in the past five days. That's after a boost to biotech stocks from positive analyst ratings.
Vivendi (EPA: VIV) will acquire Amber Capital's stake in Lagardère (EPA: MMB) at €24.10 per share.
Despite investigation, shares in Donald Trump's Digital World Acquisition Company (NYSE: DWAC) continue to rise.
Volkswagen (ETR: VOW3) plans to build six battery cell plants by 2030 for around $34bn, directly competing with Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA).
Equity news from Asia:
Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) shares are down over 21% in the past month. Meanwhile, Alibaba's DAMO Academy has teased a breakthrough computer chip merging memory and processing abilities. It stacks logic and memory in 3D and could bust the von Neumann bottleneck.
Japan's regenerative medicine business CellSource (TYO: 4880) upgraded its full-year guidance.
China Longyuan Power Group (HKG: 0916) received CSRC approval to acquire Inner Mongolia Pingzhuang Energy (SHE: 000780).
Toyota Motor (TYO: 7203) and Honda Motor (TYO: 7267) are being sued by Intellectual Ventures for alleged patent infringements covering in-vehicle communications technologies.
China Evergrande Group (HKG: 3333) is expected to begin restructuring after missing repayments in a 30-day grace period.
Bondholders in residential property management company Kaisa Group (HKG: 1638) are close to signing an NDA to bring them closer to a financing deal after mixing repayment of the $400m note on 7 December.
In Crypto:
Bitcoin has dipped back below $50k.
Crypto hardware wallet maker Ledger launches a crypto-linked debit card for US and EU customers.
Bloomberg reports Kickstarter plans to move Its crowdfunding platform to Blockchain.
At the time of writing, Ethereum (ETH), Binance Coin (BNB), Solana (SOL), and Cardano (ADA) are all down.
Visa (NYSE: V) is launching a crypto consulting service.