Stocks continue to face challenges on Wednesday, as Omicron speculation continues and US Treasury bond yields climb. With the new variant spreading fear among investors, bonds are becoming an ever more attractive option to investors.
The increase in bond yields came as Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell, told Congress the central bank is looking to accelerate its taper of monthly bond purchases amid rising inflation.
Even so, DOW futures were up by 0.89% on Wednesday morning, indicating another day of back and forth as investors weigh the latest COVID news.
| NASDAQ | S&P500 | Bitcoin |
|---|---|---|
| 15,537.69 (-1.55%) | 4,567.00 (-1.90%) | 57,130.65 (+0.28%) |
Meanwhile, oil prices were higher ahead of Wednesday’s OPEC meeting. Some of the world’s biggest oil-producing nations will use this meeting to decide how to respond to the emergence of the Omicron variant.
These are some of Wednesday’s trending stocks:
Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) shares were in the red as investors digest mixed earnings. The cloud-based education software company beat third quarter earnings expectations but disappointed with its sales guidance for quarter four and beyond.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) was one of the few major risers on Tuesday as investors sought out the stock as a safe haven. Its shares look set to rise again on Wednesday if premarket trading is any indication.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: FB) dropped into the red on Tuesday after the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority ordered the company to sell its Giphy website. The social media giant snapped up the popular GIF sharing site last year for around $400m.
AT&T (NYSE: T) shares fell to their lowest ebb in 12 years on Tuesday after the company’s communications CEO, Jeff McElfresh, cautioned that growth was likely to slow in 2022.
Chinese EV manufacturer NIO (NYSE: NIO) saw its share price dip on Tuesday after it denied that it planned to open its first factory in Europe. However, the company was up in premarket trading as it reported strong vehicle deliveries.
Fellow EV makers Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV) and Li Auto (HKG: 2015) were also in the green on the back of impressive delivery results.
Clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Cortexyme (NASDAQ: CRTX) looks set for a strong showing on Wednesday. The company’s stock is up by almost 5% in premarket trading amid rising attention from retail investor communities on Reddit.
China is set to ban technology companies listing on foreign markets via variable interest entities (VIE). This move will close a loophole long used by the country's technology industry to raise capital from overseas investors.
Here’s the latest cryptocurrency news:
Bitcoin (BTC) has become more subdued as investors turn their attention to alternative cryptos. The crypto giant appeared to halt its recent bounce following comments from US Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell.
Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) have racked up healthy growth, with their prices rising by more than 7% in the last 24 hours.
Finally, David Marcus has announced his upcoming departure from Meta Platforms, where he was heading up cryptocurrency efforts. The Facebook owner’s cryptocurrency, which is known as Diem, has faced regulatory hurdles and is not yet available to the public.