U.S. stocks ended lower on Monday, interrupting last week's rally, as investors turned cautious ahead of employment data due this week that could alter expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates early next year.
Market Snapshot
The S&P 500 declined 0.54% to end the session at 4,569.78 points. The Nasdaq declined 0.84% to 14,185.49 points, while Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.11% to 36,204.44 points.
Market Movers
Alaska Air tumbled 14% after it agreed to buy Hawaiian Airlines, a rival for travel in the Pacific region. Hawaiian Holdings gained 193% in a blistering move, reflective of the $18-a-share deal price, a hefty premium to the stock’s closing price of $4.86 on Friday. The cash transaction, which Alaska said would expand it as the fifth-largest U.S. airline, is worth $1.9 billion, including some $900 million of Hawaiian’s debt.
Carvana jumped 14% after JPMorgan upgraded the online used-car retailer to Neutral from Underweight.
Virgin Galactic slid 18% because founder Richard Branson probably won’t put more money into the space-tourism pioneer.
Palantir Technologies dropped 9.2%. William Blair analysts noted that customer concerns over data ownership could limit the analytics-software company’s future gains.
Spotify Technology was up 7.5% after the audio streaming company said it was laying off 17% of staff, or about 1,500 workers, in its third round of job cuts this year. Shares have more than doubled this year, but more layoffs may be a sign that management is increasingly worried about future profits after rapid expansion.
Bitcoin miners, which have wider profit margins when token prices rise, also gained, with Marathon Digital up 8.5% and Riot Platforms 8.9% higher.
Coinbase Global jumped 5.5% on a surge in the price of Bitcoin, which hit a 20-month high. The cryptocurrency broker often trades in step with the largest digital asset. Increased investor interest in cryptos supports the company’s core trading business.
Uber Technologies, the ride-hailing app, and Jabil, the electronics manufacturer, were both gaining after S&P Global said the stocks were among the group being cycled into the benchmark S&P 500 index. Inclusion in the S&P 500 can push up stocks because many investors buy funds that track the index’s components. Uber advanced 2.2% and Jabil was down 1.3%.
Fisker fell 6.9% after Evercore ISI analysts downgraded the electric-vehicle start-up to the equivalent of Hold from Buy.
Nvidia fell 2.7% even after Piper Sandler named the chip giant its top large-cap pick.
Twilio stock gained 1.1%. The communication tool provider said it’s cutting around 5% of its workforce. The company currently has about 8,156 employees, according to FactSet. It’s incurring $25 million to $35 million in related costs, paying for severances, employee benefits, and other charges. Arjun Bhatia from William Blair sees the changes as positive for profitability, estimating potential savings of $46 million to $62 million annually assuming an average salary ranging from $140,000 to $190,000 per employee, per Glassdoor.
Gitlab Inc 17% HIGHER; issues a strong beat-and-raise third quarter.
Amarin Corporation plc 12% HIGHER; Sarissa Capital raised its stake and said it believes the stock is "significantly undervalued."
EyePoint Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 9% HIGHER; adds to today's 177% intra-day gains related to positive wet AMD treatment trial data. After the close, the company announced that it has commenced an underwritten public offering of $175 million of shares of its common stock.
Integral Ad Science Holding LLC 8% LOWER; announced the commencement of a public offering of its common stock by investment funds affiliated with Vista Equity Partners
SpringWorks Therapeutics, Inc. 5% LOWER; commenced an underwritten public offering of $250.0 million of shares of its common stock.
Apellis Pharmaceuticals 2% HIGHER; BofA Securities upgraded the stock from Neutral to Buy with a price target of $85.00 (from $52.00).
Market News
Tesla's China-Made EV Sales Fall 17.8% in Nov, Biggest Drop Since Dec 2022
Sales of U.S. automaker Tesla's China-made electric vehicles (EVs) skidded 17.8% in November from the same month a year earlier, to 82,432 cars, China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) data showed on Monday.
That marked the biggest fall since December 2022 when Tesla's sales of China-made EVs fell 21% on the year as the U.S. automaker reduced output and cut prices to deal with rising inventories and weakening demand.
Foxconn and Pegatron Halt Indian iPhone Output Due to Extreme Weather -Sources
Foxconn and Pegatron have halted production of Apple iPhones at their factories near Chennai in southern India because of heavy rains, sources close to the matter said on Monday.
In Tamil Nadu capital Chennai, the state's largest city and a major electronics and manufacturing hub, at least two people died and the runway of one of country's busiest airports was submerged after torrential rain as the city braced for a severe cyclone expected to hit in the next 24 hours.
China Adds Nio to List of Approved Vehicle Manufactures - Website
Nio has been added to a Chinese industry ministry database permitting companies to produce vehicles in the country, according to the ministry's website.
The website gave no details on whether or when a manufacturing licence was granted to Nio, which has since 2018 partnered with Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group (JAC) to produce electric vehicles on a contract basis.