Early Look

Monday, December 30, 2024

Last week the S&P 500 gained 0.68%, the Nasdaq climbed 0.76%, and the Dow climbed 0.36% despite sharp declines on Friday amid higher Treasury yields and profit taking in mega cap tech. This week we limp into year-end with equity futures off slightly despite a dip in yields as markets search for clarity around interest rates, economic growth and a Trump presidency. But it’s a holiday week so anything is possible.

In Asian markets, the Nikkei Index dipped 0.96% to 39,894 and the Hang Seng Index slipped 0.24% to 20,041 while the Shanghai Index gained 0.21% to 3,407. In Europe, the German DAX is off 0.16% at 19,951 and the FTSE 100 is lower by 0.21% to 8,133 while the CAC 40 gains 0.08% to 7,361 in light volume as Euro zone bond yields remain near six-week highs.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -333.59 points, or 0.77%, to 42,992.21.
• The Nasdaq Composite tumbled -298.33 points, or 1.49%, to 19,722.03.
• The Russell 2000 Index declined -35.60 points, or 1.56% to 2,244.59

• 10:00 AM ET                Pending Home Sales M/M for November…est. +0.7%
• 10:30 AM ET                Dallas Fed Manufacturing for December…prior (-2.7)

• Earnings After the Close: None

• TSLA Tesla Offers Free Lifetime Supercharging with Foundation Series Cybertruck As It Looks To Clear Inventory.
• TSLA in Sunday research note, UBS auto analyst Joseph Spak writes that he sees Tesla Q4 deliveries 1% below consensus estimates. Spak has a Sell rating and $226 PT on the EV maker.
• NSANY HMC Nissan shares headed for a two-day drop of 13% on concern the terms of the carmaker’s planned deal with Honda would give investors a lower stake in the proposed joint holding company. The stock fell as much as 6.7% on Monday in Tokyo.
• FXI China will reduce import tariffs on ethane and certain recycled copper and aluminum raw materials from next year, the government said on Saturday. The Ministry of Finance announced adjustments to various import tariff categories, effective Jan. 1, aimed at increasing imports of high-quality products, expanding domestic demand and promoting high-level opening-up, it said in a statement. RTRS
• BA – South Korean Plane Crash Kills 179 in One of Deadliest Aviation Disasters in Years
• BA In an early note on the South Korean crash of a Boeing 737-800, Wolfe Research states that it has no “read-through” to Boeing shares, that the manufacturing of the 15-year-old plane is “not in the mix” as a cause of the crash.
• BA Boeing shares are lower by almost 4% in early trading following Saturday’s tragedy. The FT reports that South Korean authorities will inspect all Boeing 737-800 jets following the crash, the deadliest in South Korean history.
• SOL Emeren Group Signs 7-Year PPA for 15 MWp Solar Farm in Poland.

Healthcare

• GILD ASMB Gilead Sciences bought a large block of shares of antiviral-therapeutics developer Assembly Biosciences as part of an amended investment and funding agreement. Gilead paid $20.1M on Dec. 19 for 940,500 ASMB shares, an average price of $21.37 each. Gilead now owns 2.21M Assembly shares, a 29.9% stake, according to a form Gilead filed with the SEC.
• IDYA IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. announced that it has entered into an exclusive license agreement for SHR-4849, a novel DLL3-targeting Topo-I-payload ADC program with Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. Under the terms of the agreement, IDEAYA will develop and commercialize SHR-4849 worldwide outside of Greater China.
• BMY On Friday night BMY announced that the U.S. FDA approved Opdivo Qvantig (nivolumab and hyaluronidase-nvhy) Injection, for Subcutaneous Use in Most Previously Approved Adult, Solid Tumor Opdivo(R) (nivolumab) Indications1,2.
• TLX Telix Files TLX250-CDx (Zircaix(R)) BLA for Kidney Cancer Imaging.
• RHHBY Roche is not planning job cuts, and its business is healthy, CEO Thomas Schinecker was quoted as saying by a Swiss newspaper on Sunday.
• NVS Novartis announced positive topline results from the Phase 3 STEER study. This pivotal study assessed the efficacy and safety of investigational intrathecal onasemnogene abeparvovec in treatment-naive patients with spinal muscular atrophy Type 2, aged two to less than 18 years who are able to sit but have never walked independently.
• HALO BMY Halozyme Announces FDA Approval of Bristol Myers Squibb’s Opdivo Qvantig™ with ENHANZE® for Subcutaneous Use in Most Previously Approved Adult Solid Tumor Opdivo® (nivolumab) Indications.

Technology, Media & Telecom

• MSGS MSGE SPHR Charles Dolan, Cable-TV Pioneer Behind HBO and AMC, Dies at 98. Cablevision founder’s holdings stretched from local TV systems to Madison Square Garden
• Atos SE, the French tech company, said a ransomware group called Space Bears claimed on Saturday to have compromised an Atos database. BBG
• QQQ Trump supports immigration visas backed by Musk: ‘I have many H-1B visas on my properties.’ President-elect Trump told The New York Post Saturday that he supports immigration visas for highly skilled workers, appearing to side with Elon Musk in the roiling intra-MAGA debate on the issue.
• Ibiden Co., the Japanese tech company that has long been the dominant supplier of chip package substrates used in Nvidia Corp.’s (NVDA) cutting-edge semiconductors, may need to dial up the pace of production capacity increases to keep up with demand, according to its CEO. BBG
• NVDA Nvidia Bets on Robotics To Drive Future Growth Set To Launch Its Latest Generation Of Compact Computers For Humanoid In First Half Of 2025. FT
• T VZ The Chinese-linked Salt Typhoon cyberespionage operation targeted AT&T and Verizon’s, systems, but the wireless carriers’ U.S. networks are now secure as they work with law enforcement and government officials, the companies said on Saturday in their first acknowledgment of the attacks. Rtrs
• DIS PARA CMCSA Hollywood studios continued a late 2024 surge at the box office over the weekend, with projected ticket sales for the year now inching closer to 2023’s total. The three-day weekend total of $165 million was led by two family films, Paramount Pictures’ Sonic The Hedgehog 3 and Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King, and Focus Features’ gothic horror flick Nosferatu.
• META SNA President-elect Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Friday to delay a law that would effectively ban TikTok from taking effect until after he assumes office. Trump lawyer John Sauer, who is the solicitor general designee for the incoming administration, petitioned the high court to postpone its hearing on the TikTok ban, arguing that the matter could be redressed “through political means” instead.