Alibaba, AstraZeneca: What to Watch When the Stock Market Opens Today

By Caitlin Ostroff 

Here's what we're watching as markets open Monday.

U.S. stock futures rose after President Trump signed a Covid-19 aid bill that he had criticized last week, putting an end to uncertainty about the rollout of the relief spending package. Futures tied to the S&P 500 climbed 0.6%, indicating that the broad market index will open higher after the New York opening bell. Read our full market wrap here.

Market Movers to Watch

-- U.S.-listed shares of Alibaba Group Holding fell 1.6% ahead of the New York open after Chinese financial regulators moved to rein in Ant Group, the financial-technology giant controlled by billionaire Jack Ma. Alibaba, the e-commerce giant Mr. Ma co-founded, owns a third of Ant. Hong Kong-listed shares in Alibaba tumbled 8% Monday.

-- AstraZeneca shares in the U.S. rose 5.4% in premarket trading after the Financial Times reported that the U.K. is planning to approve a Covid-19 vaccine produced by it and University of Oxford in the coming days.

-- Nano Dimension fell over 13% in offhours trading after the company said it would sell 33.3 million American Depositary Shares at $7.50 apiece in a registered direct offering.

Market Fact

For the year through November, stock picking hedge funds posted their best performance relative to the total-return of the S&P 500 since 2010, according to data provider HFR, earning 11.9%.

Chart of the Day

Eyeing low rates and financial pressure tied to Covid-19, higher-education institutions are issuing a record amount of debt this year.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 28, 2020 07:08 ET (12:08 GMT)

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