Stocks Start November Strong, Dow Surges 555 Points
Wall Street has swiftly put October's losses in the rear view mirror. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is up 555 points at last check, on track for its best single-session gain since Aug. 15. The S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) are also confidently higher, as investors cheer Amazon.com (AMZN) earnings and a broader tech-sector rally.
While October's nonfarms payrolls report came in below estimates, the figures were sharply impacted by the Boeing (BA) strike and Hurricane Helene, and traders are instead encouraged by the unemployment rate holding at 4.1%. Despite the strong start to the month, only the Dow is heading toward a weekly win.
Atlassian Corp (Nasdaq: TEAM) is seeing a surge in options trading today, after the software company's fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue beat. At last check, over 22,000 calls have changed hands today, volume that's 15 times the average intraday amount and almost triple the number of puts traded. The weekly 11/8 250-strike call is the most popular, while the 250 call in the standard November series is also popular. TEAM is up 15% to trade at $217.58, while 16 brokerages have hiked their price target, the highest came from Wells Fargo to $300. Year-to-date, the stock is still down 8.5%.
Intel Corp (Nasdaq: INTC) stock is pacing the SPX today, last seen up 7.2% to trade at $23.04, after the chipmaker's third-quarter revenue exceeded estimates. Intel also hiked its fourth-quarter guidance, prompting six price-target hikes, the highest coming from Truist to $26 from $25. Despite today's gap higher, Intel stock is still down 54.3% in 2024, and is testing its overhead 80-day moving average.
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Cboe Global Markets Inc. (BATS: CBOE) is in the SPX cellar today, last seen down 2.9% to trade at $207.39, even though the exchange operator reported a third-quarter earnings beat thanks to strong options trading activity and hedging bets. CBOE is 16.5% higher in 2024, and hit a record high of $216.95 last Friday.
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