Trading on December 31 at the American stock markets ended in the green zone. The S&P 500 index climbed 0.64% to 3756 points, the Dow Jones rose 0.65%, the NASDAQ added 0.14%. S&P 500 and Dow Jones were able to hit new all-time highs thanks to positive statistics on weekly jobless claims. The growth of the indices for the whole of 2020 was 16% and 7%, respectively, while the growth of the high-tech NASDAQ over the past year was 44%.
Company news
Enphase Energy (ENPH: + 1.5%) will be listed in the S&P 500 starting January 7.
Celsius Holdings (CELH: + 13.3%) will be listed in the S&P SmallCap 600 starting January 7.
Elf Beauty (ELF: + 7.4%) will be listed on the S&P SmallCap 600 starting January 7.
Today, global stock markets are showing positive dynamics on the first trading day of 2021. The news background remains calm, but market participants continue to bet on the recovery of the global economy this year thanks to effective vaccines and a fast vaccination process.
However, while the vaccination campaign in the States is not so successful: as of January 2, only 4.2 million Americans received the first (of two) dose of the vaccine, although it was previously planned to reach the goal of 20 million. The head of the Operation Warp Speed organization suggested increasing the vaccination rate by halving Moderna’s vaccine dose for certain populations, negotiations are underway with the FDA regulator and company representatives. It is important to note that investors do not yet appear to be concerned about the slow pace of vaccinations.
In Europe, there is still no desire from the authorities to soften coronavirus restrictions. Stricter measures can be taken in the UK. In general, after the holidays, a global increase in diseases and an increase in the burden on the health care system can be expected, but investors are optimistic and look at this as the peak of the fight against coronavirus, after which the burden on healthcare workers will begin to decrease and state borders will open.
In the United States, an attempt to increase direct payments to the public from $ 600 to $ 2,000 was unsuccessful. Also over the weekend, attention was drawn to the delisting of Chinese telecom companies from American exchanges, which was a consequence of Donald Trump’s decree.
Technical analysis
Technically, the S&P 500 is prone to an upward movement. A new historical maximum was reached the day before. Buyers continue to demonstrate relative strength. At the same time, the RSI indicator is close to the overbought zone, so there is a risk of correction. To stay in an uptrend, the S&P 500 needs to hold above the 3640 level.
Today Top Movers
Nio Inc (NIO), a Auto Manufacturer company, soared about 2.44% at $49.93 in pre-market trading Monday after providing its December, fourth quarter and full year 2020 delivery results.
Canaan Inc (CAN) share price increased 20.57% to $7.15 during early morning trading session on Monday.
Castor Maritime Inc (CTRM) stock ascended 6.48% at $0.19 in the pre-market trading today following the announcement of pricing of $18.0 million registered direct offering.
Sundial Growers Inc (SNDL) gained over 2.30% at $0.48 in pre-market trading on Monday. The company recently revealed that it has closed the acquisition of a special purpose vehicle.
Top Upgrades & Downgrades
Barclays turned bullish on Ally Financial Inc. (ALLY), upgrading the stock to “Overweight” and assigning a $48 price target.
The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) has won the favor of Barclays’s equity research team. The firm upgraded the shares from Equal-Weight to Overweight and moved their price target to $362.
Morgan Stanley (MS) received an upgrade from analysts at Barclays, who also set their one-year price target on the stock to $88. They changed their rating on MS to Overweight from Equal-Weight in a recently issued research note.
Earlier Monday Jefferies reduced its rating on Masco Corp (NYSE: MAS) stock to Hold from Buy and assigned the price target to $61.
Barclays analysts reduced their investment ratings, saying in research reports covered by the media that its rating for Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ: ZION) has been changed to Equal Weight from Overweight and the new price target is set at $50.
Analysts at Barclays downgraded Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C)’s stock to Equal Weight from Overweight on Monday.
Latest Insider Activity
AbbVie Inc. (ABBV) EVP, Commercial Operations Stewart Jeffrey Ryan announced the sale of shares taking place on Dec 29 at $105.00 for some 25,290 shares. The total came to more than $2.66 million.
Walmart Inc. (WMT) 10% Owner WALTON JIM C sold on Dec 30 a total 372,175,368 shares at $144.23 on average. The insider’s sale generated proceeds of almost $229.12 million.
The Kroger Co. (KR) Director SARGENT RONALD declared the purchase of shares taking place on Dec 30 at $31.65 for some 3,200 shares. The transaction amount was around $0.1 million.
Clearside Biomedical Inc. (CLSD) 10% Owner WHITMORE BRADFORD T bought on Dec 24 a total 3,179,095 shares at $1.95 on average. The purchase cost the insider an estimated $99,897.
Important Earnings
Top US earnings releases scheduled for tomorrow include SMART Global Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SGH). It will announce its Nov 2020 financial results. The company is expected to report earnings of $0.7 per share from revenues of $290.93M in the three-month period.
