Stock Market News: Pfizer Obesity Drug Drop, Tesla and Alphabet Downgrades, Lucid-Aston Martin Deal, and Fed’s Impact on US Economy

2023-06-26 12:56:18

(For a live Archyde.com blog on US, UK and European stock markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window).

* Pfizer shares fall as the company drops its obesity drug.

* Tesla and Alphabet shares fall on broker downgrades

* Lucid on the rise after Aston Martin deal

* Futures are down: Dow 0.04%, S&P 0.07%, Nasdaq 0.09%.

June 26 (Archyde.com) – Wall Street was poised for a lackluster open on Monday, under pressure from investors’ fears that the Federal Reserve’s aggressive monetary tightening could hurt the U.S. economy and a slump in Pfizer after his decision to discontinue the development of a drug for weight loss.

Geopolitical uncertainties also clouded the global mood after an aborted uprising by Russian mercenaries over the weekend sparked concerns over the stability of President Vladimir Putin and a potential disruption to Russian oil supplies. .

The recent rebound in US equities lost momentum last week after testimony from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell hinted at further interest rate hikes.

Most policymakers expect at least two more quarter-point rate hikes by the end of the year, although traders expect another hike in July and see the US central bank maintaining its rates through the end of 2023, according to CMEGroup’s Fedwatch tool.

“How investors buy or sell right now will be a function of whether rates rise at the end of next month,” said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab.

“Any data we receive between now and then, especially labor market and inflation data, will have an impact on this.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq broke its longest eight-week streak on Friday, the longest since March 2019, while the benchmark S&P 500 snapped its five-week rally, the longest since November 2021. .

Market participants await a range of economic data, including a key inflation gauge, durable goods and the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index, as well as indices from Powell’s speech later in the week. .

“Investors are always concerned that the Fed is overdoing it,” said Sam Stovall, chief strategist at CFRA Research in New York.

The CBOE Market Volatility Index, which measures investor anxiety, was up 0.90 points at 14.35, its highest level in nearly a week.

As of 8:12 a.m. ET, the Dow e-minis was down 12 points, or 0.04%, the S&P 500 e-minis was down 3.25 points, or 0.07%, and the Nasdaq 100 e-minis was down 13.5 points, or 0.09%.

Among individual stocks, Pfizer Inc fell 2% in premarket trading after the drugmaker said it was halting development of an experimental obesity and diabetes drug due to rising liver enzymes in patients in clinical studies.

Alphabet Inc slid 1.4% after UBS downgraded the stock to ‘neutral’, while Tesla Inc fell 2.2% after Goldman Sachs downgraded the electric car maker’s rating to ‘neutral’ .

Lucid Group jumped 10.4% after striking a deal with Britain’s Aston Martin that will give the electric vehicle maker a 3.7% stake in the company.

PacWest added 7.9% after private equity firm Ares Management said it had acquired a $3.5 billion specialty finance loan portfolio from the lender. (Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Writing by Shinjini Ganguli)

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