- US indices open slightly higher
- US100 tests 50-period moving average at H4 interval
- Exscientia rallies over 30% on Merck collaboration
Wall Street indices launched today's trading slightly higher with major US benchmarks trading 0.1-0.2% higher at the start of the session.
FOMC rate decision, scheduled for 7:00 pm BST, is a key event of the day. No change to the level of interest rates is expected - money markets price less than 1% chance of a rate hike while only 3 economists out of over 70 polled by Bloomberg expected a hike. As the scope for a rate decision surprise is very slim, attention would likely be mostly paid to the new set of economic forecasts as well as Powell's presser (7:30 pm BST).
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Source: xStation5
Nasdaq-100 futures (US100) launched are trading slightly higher on the day. However, the scale of these gains is not massive and a kind of wait-and-see mode can be seen in the markets. Index is attempting to break above the 50-period moving average at H4 interval but, so far, bulls were unable to breach through this technical hurdle. A key near-term resistance to watch can be found in the 15,500 pts area, where the 61.8% retracement of the July-August correction can be found. A zone ranging between 15,350 pts mark and 50% retracement is a key near-term support.
Company News
Coty (COTY.US) gains after boosting fiscal-2024 forecasts. Company said that it now expects adjusted EBITDA to reach $1.08-1.09 billion, up from previous forecast of $1.07-1.08 billion, while like-for-like sales are expected to grow at a pace of 8-10%, up from previous forecast range of 6-8%.
Exscientia (EXAI.US) rallied over 30% at session open after the company announced that it has entered into a AI-driven drug discovery collaboration with Merck KGaA, German pharmaceutical company. Under the agreement, Exscientia will be eligible to receive up to $674 million in payments, depending on the milestones reached.
Analysts' actions
- Dollar General (DG.US) downgraded to "underweight" at JPMorgan. Price target set at $116.00
- Kimco Realty (KIM.US) upgraded to "equal-weight" at Wells Fargo. Price target set at $20.00
- Pinterest (PINS.US) upgraded to "buy" at DA Davidson. Price target set at $35.00
- Western Digital (WDC.US) upgraded to "outperform" at BNPP Exane
- On Holding (ONON.US) rated "buy" at Needham. Price target set at $40.00
- Skyworks (SWKS.US) downgraded to "neutral" at BNPP Exane. Price target set at $110.00
Exscientia (EXAI.US) launched today's trading with an over-20% bullish price gap following news on collaboration with Merck KGaA. However, a bulk of those gains was erased following session launch and now the stock is trading just 5% higher on the day. Source: xStation5
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