Early Look

Friday, November 26, 2021

Not exactly what U.S. investors were expecting on their return from the Thanksgiving Day holiday as U.S. equity futures are plunging, with the S&P looking lower by -1.6%, along with oil prices tumbling over 6% to $73.25 and bond yields crumbling over 13 bps to 1.51% as investors are worried that a new coronavirus variant identified in South Africa (called B.1.1.529) could spark fresh outbreaks. The EU, Britain, Singapore, and India among those announcing stricter border controls as scientists sought to determine if the mutation was vaccine-resistant. Reports indicate the variant has a spike protein that is dramatically different to the one in the original coronavirus that COVID-19 vaccines are based on, the UK Health Security Agency said raising fears that the current vaccines may be ineffective. Still, vaccine makers Pfizer (PFE), Moderna (MRNA), Novavax (NVAX) and Merck (MRK) are seeing shares soar early. In reverse, shares of travel, leisure, hotel stocks are seeing the biggest declines early. Asian stocks suffered their sharpest drop in two months on Friday after the detection of a new and possibly vaccine-resistant coronavirus variant sent investors scurrying toward the safety of bonds, the yen and the dollar. A handful of local COVID-19 cases in eastern parts of China have prompted Shanghai city to limit tourism activities and a nearby city to cut public transportation services; Shanghai city detected three domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases with confirmed symptoms for Nov. 25. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index slides -2.5% or 750 points to 28,750, the Shanghai Index slips -20 points to 3,564 and the Hang Seng Index tumbles -659 points (2.67%) to 24,080. In Europe, the German DAX is craters -2.8% or 450 points to 15,460, while the FTSE 100 tumbles -210 points (2.87%) to 7,100. The variant concerns weighing on retailers as well ahead of the busiest shopping day of the year “Black Friday”.

Market Closing Prices Yesterday

·     The S&P 500 Index gained 10.76 points, or 0.23%, to 4,701.46

·     The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -9.42 points, or 0.03%, to 35,804.38

·     The Nasdaq Composite climbed 70.09 points, or 0.44%, to 15,845.23

·     The Russell 2000 Index advanced 3.59 points, or 0.15% to 2,331.46

Events Calendar for Today

·     U.S. Equity Markets with an early 1:00 PM ET close

World News

·     Britain banned flights from South Africa and neighboring countries and asked British travelers returning from there to quarantine, while European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the EU also aimed to halt air travel from the region.

·     Volatility traders are rushing to bet on turmoil in the U.S. stock market as fears over a new strain of the coronavirus look set to finally end weeks of tranquil trading. The Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX, jumped as much as 9 points on Friday morning, the biggest intraday move since February

Sector News Breakdown

Consumer

·     Chinese regulators have asked top executives of ride hailing giant Didi Global Inc (DIDI) to devise a plan to delist from U.S. bourses on data security fears, Bloomberg News reported. China’s tech watchdog wants the management to take the company off the NYSE on concerns about leakage of sensitive data, the report said

·     The Brussels Court of Appeals ordered two of Uber’s (UBER) units to pay EUR 150,000, for a total of $336,600, when it backed a complaint made by a Brussels taxi firm – Bloomberg

Energy, Industrials and Materials

·     Oil prices slid on concerns that a global supply surplus could swell in Q1 following a U.S.-led coordinated release of crude reserves (SPR) among major consumers and as a new COVID-19 variant spook investor. Oil prices likely dropped in tandem with wider financial markets on concerns the new variant would hit demand by limiting movements again

Financials

·     KKR & Co (KKR) and CVC Capital Partners are considering teaming up on a bid for Italy-based Telecom Italia SpA, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the matter

·     China Evergrande Group Chairman Hui Ka Yan cut his stake in the company for the first time since it went public in 2009, the latest sign he’s liquidating personal assets to help stave off a default by the world’s most indebted developer. Hui sold 1.2 billion Evergrande shares for the equivalent of $344 million on Thursday, according to a filing – Bloomberg

Healthcare

·     Selecta Biosciences (SELB) announced that the FDA has placed a clinical hold on its Phase 1/2 clinical trial of SEL-302, (which consists of MMA-101 plus ImmTOR, for the treatment of patients with methylmalonic acidemia, or MMA)

·     Vaccine makers Pfizer (PFE), Moderna (MRNA), Novavax (NVAX) and Merck (MRK) are seeing shares soar early on the new virus variant news.

Technology, Media & Telecom

·     Pinduoduo Inc (PDD) posted quarterly revenue that missed market estimates on Friday, hurt by stiff competition from rivals Alibaba and JD.com Inc amid the pandemic-driven online shopping boom. Total revenue was 21.51 billion yuan ($3.37 billion) in the third quarter, below analysts’ average estimate of 26.59 billion yuan, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

·     United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) and Micron Technology (MU) announced a settlement agreement between the two companies worldwide