Stock futures are ticking higher ahead of the final trading session before the Christmas holiday. Here’s what we’re watching in Thursday’s action:
- Novavax NVAX -3.30% shares gained 2.6% premarket after it said its two-dose Covid-19 vaccine demonstrated “strong immune responses” against Omicron and other variants. Fellow vaccine maker Moderna MRNA -0.55% shed 0.8%.
- U.S.-traded shares of JD.com JD -6.92% dropped 6.7% ahead of the bell. Chinese social-media giant Tencent is shedding most of its stake in JD.com, saying that the e-commerce company has grown to the point where it no longer requires Tencent’s financial backing.
A JD.com warehouse in Beijing on Nov. 9, 2021.
Photo: jade gao/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
- Biotech firm Allakos ALLK 22.22% was up 13% premarket. That would be a lot more exciting if it hadn’t closed down 90% the day before. Wednesday’s drop came after the company said two studies didn’t achieve statistical significance on patient reported symptomatic co-primary endpoints.
- Airline shares were inching up amid a holiday travel season that is expected to be busy despite Omicron anxieties. United Airlines UAL 0.67% gained 1.3%, Delta Air Lines DAL 0.43% added 1.1% and American Airlines gained 1.4%.
- Cruise operators’ shares were floating higher as well. Carnival CCL -0.24% gained 1.5%, Royal Caribbean RCL 0.09% rose 1.2% and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings NCLH 0.44% added 2.1%.
- Citigroup C 1.02% nudged up 0.6% premarket. The bank agreed to sell its consumer-banking business in the Philippines to a local lender, pressing ahead with its strategy to exit most of its retail operations in Asia and switch gears to grow in wealth management.
- Hertz HTZ 4.71% shares added 2.3% premarket. The judge who oversaw the rental-car company’s chapter 11 restructuring trimmed bondholders’ requests for early repayment premiums and interest payments.
Chart of the Day
- Municipal bond investors are piling into exchange-traded funds, attracted by low costs and the ability to trade quickly.
Write to James Willhite at james.willhite@wsj.com
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