Dow, Nasdaq Post Triple-Digit Gains As Tech Roars Back

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is up over 374 points midday, shaking off less-than-pleasant coronavirus data and instead focusing on the upbeat sentiment from AstraZeneca's (AZN) restart of COVID-19 vaccine trials. The S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) are also in the black, with the latter bouncing off its worst week since March thanks to a resurgent tech sector. Meanwhile, investors are digesting a slew of corporate deals, including ByteDance choosing Oracle (ORCL) over Microsoft (MSFT) to be its U.S. partner, and Nvidia (NVDA) buying Arm Holdings from SoftBank.

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One stock seeing notable options activity is EOG Resources Inc (NYSE: EOG). So far, 40,000 puts have crossed the tape -- a whopping 60 times what's typically seen at this point and volume already at a new annual high. Most popular is the weekly 10/23 39-strike put, where new positions are being opened. The energy stock was last seen up 1% at $39.42 at last check after Wells Fargo upped its price target to $60 from $57 amid news that Moody's completed its periodic review of the company. 

Soaring to the top of the Nasdaq today is Immunomedics Inc (Nasdaq: IMMU), up 102.1% at $85.40 at last check, after it was announced that Gilead Sciences (GILD) will buy the company for $21 billion at $88 per share, expanding Gilead's cancer treatment portfolio. Surging to new heights, IMMU is now up a whopping 299.3% year-to-date.  

Meanwhile, Groupon Inc (Nasdaq: GRPN) is down 10.6% at $28.95 at last check, though the reasoning is unclear. Although now down 40% in 2020, today's damage has been contained by GRPN's 30-day moving average.

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