Stock futures are ticking higher ahead of the final trading session before the Christmas holiday. Here’s what we’re watching in Thursday’s action:
-
Novavax
NVAX -1.24%
shares gained 2.6% premarket after it said its two-dose Covid-19 vaccine demonstrated “strong immune responses” against Omicron and other variants. Fellow vaccine maker
Moderna
MRNA -2.20%
shed 0.8%.
- U.S.-traded shares of
JD.com
JD -2.72%
dropped 6.7% ahead of the bell. Chinese social-media giant Tencent is shedding most of its stake in JD.com, saying that the e-commerce company has grown to the point where it no longer requires Tencent’s financial backing.
A JD.com warehouse in Beijing on Nov. 9, 2021.
Photo:
jade gao/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
- Biotech firm
Allakos
ALLK -0.59%
was up 13% premarket. That would be a lot more exciting if it hadn’t closed down 90% the day before. Wednesday’s drop came after the company said two studies didn’t achieve statistical significance on patient reported symptomatic co-primary endpoints.
- Airline shares were inching up amid a holiday travel season that is expected to be busy despite Omicron anxieties.
United Airlines
UAL 1.55%
gained 1.3%,
Delta Air Lines
DAL 1.62%
added 1.1% and
American Airlines
gained 1.4%.
- Cruise operators’ shares were floating higher as well.
Carnival
CCL -0.24%
gained 1.5%,
Royal Caribbean
RCL -0.27%
rose 1.2% and
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings
NCLH -1.04%
added 2.1%.
-
Citigroup
C -0.05%
nudged up 0.6% premarket. The bank agreed to sell its consumer-banking business in the Philippines to a local lender, pressing ahead with its strategy to exit most of its retail operations in Asia and switch gears to grow in wealth management.
-
Hertz
HTZ -1.68%
shares added 2.3% premarket. The judge who oversaw the rental-car company’s chapter 11 restructuring trimmed bondholders’ requests for early repayment premiums and interest payments.
Chart of the Day
- Municipal bond investors are piling into exchange-traded funds, attracted by low costs and the ability to trade quickly.
Write to James Willhite at [email protected]
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