US OPEN: Russell 2000 leads gains in early Thursday session

• Wall Street in mixed mood at the beginning of the session
• Russell 2000 gains 0.72%
• Moderna's shares drop 15.5% after the company said it plans to cut its research and development budget by about 20%

The US markets open Thursday's cash session in a moderately good mood. Five minutes after the opening, Wall Street's Nasdaq is adding 0.05%, while the S&P500 is up 0.02%. The Russell 200 is doing relatively well, adding 0.72%. Investor attention today is focused on corporate news. 

Current volatility observed on Wall Street. Source: xStation 

US100

The Nasdaq-100 index, represented by the US100 contract is trading 0.10% higher today relative to the close of Wednesday's trading. It is also worth noting that today's gains have knocked the index above the resistance zone, which was the 50-day exponential moving average (blue curve on the chart). It is the maintenance of this zone in the medium term that could be an important element defining the US100's sustained return to the uptrend. In the medium term, on the other hand, an important point of support may be the psychological zone near the 100-day and 200-day EMAs (purple curve and gold curve).

Source: xStation 5
Corporate news

McDonald's (MCD.US) restaurant chain will extend its $5 meal offer in the US through December. Nearly 80% of all franchisees have voted to extend the offer, the company reported. The $5 offer began in June and was initially expected to last only about four weeks, but has become a sales hit for the brand. Despite the news, the company's shares lost 0.4% at the start of the session. 

Moderna's (MRNA.US) shares are losing 15.5% at the start of today's session after the company announced that it intends to cut its R&D budget by about 20% over the next three years and to stop manufacturing/working on several new products. 

The company's shares hit their lowest levels since November 2023. 

Source: xStation 

Alaska Air (ALK.US) shares are gaining 5% early in the session after the company raised its earnings-per-share forecast for the current quarter, citing better revenue and fuel cost projections. Shares of peers Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines are also gaining.

THIRD QUARTER FORECAST

• Earnings per share of $2.15-2.25, expected to be $1.40-1.60
• Revenue growth per available seat of ~2%, no growth expected
• Fuel costs per gallon of $2.60-2.70, expected $2.85-2.95
• Capacity increase of +2% to +3%

ANALYSTS' RECOMMENDATION

- Simon Property (SPG.US): Stifel lowered its rating on the company's shares to “neutral” from an earlier “buy” due to the stock's sizable surge against the sector and the significant overshoot of Stfifel's target price. Target price set at $159 per share. 

- Carvana (CVNA.US): Stephens initiated analyst coverage of the company with an “overweight” rating with a target price of $190 per share.