Stocks Remain Higher on Trade Deal Optimism
The "phase one" trade deal will reportedly be inked later this week
With the signing of the "phase one" trade deal apparently just days away, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is continuing its climb midday. The blue chip index is joined in positive territory by the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC), though upside has been fairly limited overall. Meanwhile, February-dated crude futures are sliding, as tensions between the U.S. and Iran slide further into the rear view, down 1.2% to trade at $58.33 per barrel.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
Beyond Meat Inc (NASDAQ:BYND) is seeing an unusual amount of options activity today, with 99,000 calls and 29,000 puts across the tape so far -- four times the intraday average -- amid buzz that Snoop Dogg's Beyond D-O-Double G sandwich will be available for a limited time at Dunkin' (DNKN). The most popular contracts are the January 2020 100-strike call and 110-strike call, with positions opening at the latter. BYND is up 10.7% at $106.60 -- on course for its highest close since late-October, and its third consecutive win.
One of the top performers on the Nasdaq Adaptimmune Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ADAP), which has added 148.5% to trade at $3.26 after the pharmaceutical firm said two of its experimental cell therapies reduced tumor size in a patient with liver cancer and a patient with melanoma, respectively, during early stage studies. The company also mentioned two unconfirmed Partial Responses (PR) in patients, confirming the potential of its SPEAR T-cell treatment in patients with multiple tumors. Now, ADAP is pacing for its first close north of its 200-day moving average since October 2018. Year-over-year, on the other hand, ADAP is still down 43.2%.
