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Broad-based gains spurred by M&A activity, vaccine optimism
14-Sep-20 16:15 ET

Dow +327.69 at 27983.33, Nasdaq +203.11 at 11056.66, S&P +42.57 at 3383.54

https://www.briefing.com/stock-market-update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 rose 1.3% on Monday, as a spate of corporate deals and encouraging vaccine news helped the market rebound from back-to-back weekly declines. The Nasdaq Composite gained 1.9%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.2%. The Russell 2000 outperformed with a 2.7% gain.

The gains were broad and steady, with all 11 S&P 500 sectors finishing in positive territory, including seven that rose at least 1.0%. The information technology sector's 2.1% gain was the most influential, but the real estate sector (+2.2%) eked out the top spot. The communication services sector (+0.1%) underperformed.

Starting with the key M&A news, NVIDIA (NVDA 514.89, +28.31, +5.8%) agreed to acquire Arm Holdings from Softbank for $40 bln in cash and stock; Gilead Sciences (GILD 66.34, +1.44, +2.2%) agreed to acquire Immunomedics (IMMU 83.65, +41.40, +98.0%) for about $21 bln, or $88.00 per share, in cash; and Verizon (VZ 60.32, +0.53, +0.9%) agreed to acquire Tracfone for $6.25 bln in cash and stock.

Separately, Oracle (ORCL 59.46, +2.46, +4.3%) reportedly formed a partnership with TikToK U.S. after Microsoft's (MSFT 205.41, +1.38, +0.7%) acquisition bid was rejected. Walt Disney's (DIS 131.20, -0.55, -0.4%) ESPN entered into two separate multi-year agreements with Caesars Entertainment (CZR 55.39, +5.28, +10.5%) and DraftKings (DKNG 48.62, +7.16, +17.3%).

As for today's dose of vaccine news, AstraZeneca (AZN 54.02, +0.29, +0.5%) resumed its COVID-19 vaccine trials in the UK. Pfizer (PFE 37.01, +0.94, +2.6%) for its part reiterated expectations to have conclusive results from its Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial in October while also planning to expand enrollment.

Citigroup (C 48.15, -2.85, -5.6%) was a notable laggard after its CFO issued a revenue warning and The Wall Street Journal reported that the company could get reprimanded for failing to improve its risk-management systems. Shares of Citigroup fell 5.6%, versus a 1.3% gain in the S&P 500 financials sector.

The U.S. Treasury market was rather quiet today despite the bullish action in the stock market. The 2-yr yield increased one basis point to 0.14%, and the 10-yr yield was flat at 0.67%. The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.3% to 93.06. WTI crude futures decreased 0.3%, or $0.12, to $37.22/bbl.

Investors did not receive any economic data on Monday. Looking ahead to Tuesday, investors will receive Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization for August, the Empire State Manufacturing Survey for September, and Import and Export Prices for August.

Nasdaq Composite +23.2% YTD
S&P 500 +4.7% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average -1.9% YTD
Russell 2000 -7.9% YTD


Market Snapshot
Dow 27983.33 +327.69 (1.18%)
Nasdaq 11056.66 +203.11 (1.87%)
SP 500 3383.54 +42.57 (1.27%)
10-yr Note -1/32 0.679

NYSE Adv 2416 Dec 572 Vol 860.0 mln
Nasdaq Adv 2599 Dec 731 Vol 3.7 bln