According to the Financial Associated Press (Shanghai Editor Xia Junxiong), on Friday, Eastern Time, the three major stock indexes all rebounded. The Dow and S&P rose more than 1%, and the Nasdaq also ended five consecutive trading days. This week, the Dow fell 1.4%, the S&P 500 fell 2.2%, and the Nasdaq fell 3.2%.
The U.S. stock market experienced a turbulent September. 10 of the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 Index fell in September. Among them, raw materials stocks fell 7.4% that month, and energy stocks were the best performing sector, with an increase of more than 9%.
Although the market had a good start in October, Peter Cecchini, head of research at Axonic Capital, believes that the problems that have plagued the market recently will not disappear easily. The large-scale fiscal stimulus during the epidemic has allowed the economy to sustain, but high inflation, supply chain crisis, and the new crown epidemic have not disappeared.
Merck announced the latest data on its oral new crown drug on Friday. The interim analysis of the Phase III clinical trial showed that the drug can reduce the risk of hospitalization or death for mild and moderate patients by 50%.
Many vaccine concept stocks fell sharply. Modena fell 11.37%, Novavax fell 12.40%, Vir Biotechnology fell 21.07%, BioNTech fell 6.67%, Pfizer fell 0.19%, AstraZeneca fell 0.63%, Johnson & Johnson fell 0.64 %.
Market dynamics
As of the close, the Dow Jones index rose 1.43% to 34,326.46 points; the S&P 500 index rose 1.15% to 4,357.05 points; the Nasdaq index rose 0.82% to 14,566.70 points.
Hot stock performance
Large technology stocks generally rose, Apple rose 0.81%, Facebook rose 1.07%, Google rose 2.40%, Microsoft rose 2.55%, Netflix rose 0.46%, and Amazon fell 0.05%.
New energy auto stocks performed poorly. Tesla fell 0.03%, Weilai Motors fell 0.70%, Xiaopeng Motors fell 0.23%, Ideal Motors closed flat, Nikola fell 0.47%, Faraday Future fell 4.24%, and Workhorse fell 3.53%. Lordstown fell 18.17%.
Popular Chinese concept stocks fell collectively. Alibaba fell 2.60%, Tencent ADR fell 1.59%, JD fell 3.07%, Weibo fell 2.84%, Pinduoduo fell 2.78%, Bilibili fell 1.95%, Baidu fell 1.41%, New Oriental It rose 1.95%, NetEase fell 1.87%, Tencent Music fell 1.66%, iQiyi fell 2.99%, and Didi fell 2.70%.
Company news
[Lordstown and Foxconn will apply for loans from the US Department of Energy]
On Friday, local time, electric vehicle start-ups Lordstown Motors and Foxconn stated that they plan to apply for a loan from the US Department of Energy to modify factories to manufacture electric vehicles. The U.S. government launched the Advanced Automobile Manufacturing Technology Loan Program (ATVM) in 2008 to provide loan support to the U.S. auto industry. It is reported that the two companies will each seek a certain percentage of ATVM loans and bear the cost of obtaining ATVM loans.
[Mersk’s oral new crown drug can reduce the risk of hospitalization or death by 50%]
On Friday, local time, well-known pharmaceutical company Merck and its partner Ridgeback Biotherapy announced that they have developed a drug for the treatment of new coronary pneumonia that can reduce the risk of hospitalization or death for mild and moderate patients by 50%. Boosted by this news, Merck’s shares closed up more than 8% on Friday. The drug, called Molnupiravir, is taken orally, and the two companies said that after the drug’s clinical trial results show convincing results, they will seek emergency authorization to use the drug in the United States despite the fact that it is used in the United States.
[Google abandons its plan to provide users with bank accounts]
According to media reports on Friday, Google has abandoned its plan to provide banking services directly to users. It is reported that a series of planning deadlines have been postponed, coupled with the departure of the Google executives who were complicated to oversee the project, which eventually prompted the company to abandon the project. A Google spokesperson confirmed the news on Friday, but declined to comment on the impact of executive departures.
[South Korea’s SK Broadband will sue Netflix for being too popular in “Squid Game”]
According to media reports on Friday, South Korean Internet service provider SK Broadband is suing the streaming giant Netflix for a surge in network traffic caused by the platform’s popular show “Squid Game”. SK Broadband requires Netflix to pay for maintenance costs caused by the surge in network traffic. Previously, Netflix’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos said that “Squid Game” is expected to become the most popular TV series on the platform.
[Coinbase claims that at least 6000 customers’ cryptocurrencies were stolen by hackers]
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase disclosed on Friday that between March and May 20 this year, hackers stole the accounts of at least 6,000 customers of the company. A Coinbase spokesperson said that the company immediately fixed the loophole and worked with these customers to regain control of their accounts and compensate them for lost funds.
[Apple fixes the vulnerability that iPhone 13 cannot be unlocked by Apple Watch]
Apple on Friday fixed a bug in the iPhone 13 that prevented users from unlocking their phones through Apple Watch while wearing a mask.