After last week's equity sell-off, investors are likely to display caution as the financial markets open.
The oil price is rising as Saudi Arabia hiked prices for US and Asian buyers. Gold lower. Industrial metals are mixed. Bitcoin is lower but appears to have steadied after a sharp weekend sell-off.
Geopolitical concerns continue to unnerve investors. New intelligence suggests Russia is ramping up preparations to invade Ukraine next year. Meanwhile, tensions between China and Taiwan are still concerning.
Investors have become risk-averse as the Federal Reserve continues with its plans to taper its bond-buying program aggressively. They will also be watching for signs of government restrictions to combat Omicron.
| NASDAQ | S&P 500 | BITCOIN |
|---|---|---|
| 15,085.47 (-1.92%) | 4,538.43 (-0.84%) | 47,552.14 (-3.44%) |
Here are some trending stocks:
Activist investor Engine Capital is urging Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) to sell itself or separate its e-commerce business in an effort to boost its share price.
Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) plans to enter the fast-growing prestige haircare market by acquiring Jen Atkin's Ouai hair care and lifestyle brand.
$102m F-star Therapeutics (NASDAQ: FSTX) has seen its share price slide 46% this year. Today it is hosting an R&D Day webinar.
From January, Roche (OTCMKTS: RHHBY) is launching a rapid antigen testing kit in countries accepting the CE Mark while also filing for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to the FDA early next year.
Finland's Ministry of Defense proposes to buy Lockheed Martin's (NYSE: LMT) F-35 for around $11.3bn.
Lucid Group (NASDAQ: LCID) has seen a spike in options trading. Meanwhile, its CEO is due an early handout of millions of dollars worth of shares thanks to the share price rallying in the buoyant EV market.
Short interest in Cortexyme (NASDAQ: CRTX) is heightened. The share price is down 54% year-to-date.
Altimeter Growth (NYSE: AGCB) is also seeing a rise in short interest. The AGCB share price is down 24% year-to-date.
Stocks trending on retail investor boards include Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW), Block (NYSE: SQ), AMC Entertainment (NYSE: AMC) and AMD (NASDAQ: AMD).
Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA) is reportedly interested in acquiring BT (LON: BT.A) sport. This could potentially halt talks between BT and DAZN for a £600M sale of BT Sport.
The BT share price has climbed 6% over the past month as takeover talks hit the headlines. Meanwhile, billionaire businessman Patrick Drahi has a 12.1% stake in BT. Rumours are circulating that he will increase this by seeking to buy Deutsche Telekom's 12% stake in BT after his promise not to bid for the company expires on December 10.
ARK Innovation ETF (NYSEARCA: ARKK) is down 24% in the past month. Cathie Wood's popular fund is taking significant risks in doubling down on falling growth stocks.
Last week CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) announced they are joining forces to reimagine personalized care and accelerate digital transformation. CVS will host its investor day on Thursday.
Smart designer home company Alset EHome International (NASDAQ: AEI) is issuing a $30m stock offering.
Coupa Software (NASDAQ: COUP) and Gitlab (NASDAQ: GTLB) are due to deliver earnings reports after market close.
CBRE Acquisition (NYSE: CBAH) shareholders will vote on its SPAC combination with Solar energy company Altus Power today.
After IPO, analysts are subject to a quiet period where they can't discuss the firm. Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ: RIVN) sees its quiet period expire this week, and analyst opinions and ratings are sure to flow. The same goes for Backblaze (NASDAQ: BLZE), CI&T Inc (NYSE: CINT), Expensify (NASDAQ: EXFY), Hertz Global (NASDAQ: HTZ), Lulu's Fashion Lounge (NASDAQ: LVLU), Vaxxinity (NASDAQ: VAXX) and Winc (NYSE: WBEV).
Equity news from Asia:
In semiconductor news, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE: TSM) is speeding up its mass production of 3-nanometre chips for high-end computers and 5G phones. Samsung plans to do the same. Meanwhile, Realtek Semiconductor (2379.TT) reported strong November revenue growth. And HANMI Semiconductor (042700.KS) signed a contract with Rohm Electronics Philippines for semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
Aluminum Corp. of China (2600.HK) saw its share price rally overnight on reports China is planning a merger to create a large, state-owned rare-earth entity.
Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) names Toby Xu as CFO to replace Maggie Wu
Evergrande (3333.HK) is once again stirring market fear after saying there is no guarantee it will have the funds to meet its financial obligations.
Z Holdings (4689.JP) launched a ¥68.29B buyback and announced a ¥76.09B placement to fund the acquisition of ZOZO.
Toshiba (6502.JP) reportedly spurned multiple offers to focus on splitting the company.
In Crypto:
Bitcoin lost $10K (over 17%) in value between early Friday morning and early Saturday morning. This extended losses from earlier in the week. It is now steadying around $48k.
Crypto exchange Bitmart was hacked over the weekend, with losses projected at around $196m.
Crypto exchange Bitget had its Singapore license revoked over a dispute with K-pop band BTS. The exchange was accused of promoting a crypto token called 'Army Coin' in reference to the South Korean pop group's 'BTS army'.
Canadian crypto miner Hut 8 Mining Corp. (NASDAQ: HUT) has also seen a spike in options trading. It recently stored all 265 bitcoins it mined in November, continuing its strategy to HODL.