Economic Recovery Powering Dow Rally
Stocks are picking up steam on this mornings' promising jobs report
This morning's promising employment data is keeping the wind at stocks' backs today, with Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) up more than 400 points and reclaiming the 26,000 level. The S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) are also enjoying outsized gains, with the former vying for its biggest 50-day bounce in history. Reopening optimism is giving the airline sector a boost, while traders turn away from lockdown staples like Netflix (NFLX) and Amazon (AMZN). Meanwhile, oil prices are taking a breather, with July-dated crude down 0.7% at last check, dampened by uncertainty over the timing and scale of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) agreement to cut crude production.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
There is an unusual amount of options activity surrounding Chinese electric car manufacturer NIO Inc (NYSE:NIO) today, as the stock continues its climb amid news that car sales in China are up for their second straight month. So far, 266,000 calls and 44,000 puts have crossed the tape -- total options volume that is eight times the intraday average and ranks in the 99th percentile of its annual range. Most popular are the June 6 and 6.50-strike calls, with positions being opened at both. At last check, NIO is up 15.6% at $5.43, set for its highest close in over a year and a half.
The best stock on the Nasdaq today is FSD Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:HUGE) after the Canadian biotech company was granted approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to design and submit for clearance a clinical trial to test its potential COVID-19 treatment. The equity is up 206.5% to trade at $9.50, and just cleared its 120-day moving average, which has served as a long time area of pressure on the charts for HUGE.
On the other end of the spectrum, Evofem Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:EVFM) is one of the worst performers on the Nasdaq today, down 25.9% at $3.45. This comes after the drug developer made an underwritten public offer of 28.5 million shares priced at $3.50 a share -- a 25% discount to last night's close -- in order to raise $100 million. This dip puts EVFM right back by its mid-March one-year lows and off 43.5% for the year.