AMC, Thermo Fisher, Viela Bio: What to Watch When the Stock Market Opens Today

By James Willhite 

Here's what we're watching ahead of Monday's opening bell.

-- U.S. stock futures advanced, putting major benchmarks on course to recover some ground following their worst week since October. Silver prices shot 11% higher. Some stocks that have become popular with day traders continued to climb, though group leader GameStop was edging down. For our live blog on the day-trading phenomenon, follow this link.

Futures tied to the S&P 500 rose 1%, and contracts linked to the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 advanced 1%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 0.8%. Read our full market wrap here.

What's Coming Up

-- Earnings are due from NXP Semiconductors, PotlatchDeltic and Woodward after the close.

-- IHS Markit's U.S. manufacturing index for January is out at 9:45 a.m. ET. The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index for January, due at 10 a.m., is expected to fall to 60 from 60.7 a month earlier.

-- U.S. construction spending for December, due at 10 a.m., is expected to increase 0.8% from the prior month.

Market Movers to Watch

-- GameStop shares edged down 0.3% premarket following their recent dizzying climb. Headphone maker Koss is up 5.3%, after Friday's 53% jump. Some investors expect volatility to edge down this week as many hedge funds have already reduced short positions on stocks that have attracted attention online.

-- Another day-trading favorite, AMC Entertainment, jumped more than 19% ahead of the bell, building on Friday's 54% climb.

-- Viela Bio shot more than 20% higher on news that it would be acquired by Horizon Therapeutics.

-- Exxon Mobil gained 2% premarket and Chevron added 1.6% The oil giants discussed merging after the pandemic shook the world last year, according to people familiar with the talks.

-- Property Solutions Acquisition, the blank-check company that is acquiring electric-vehicle maker Faraday Future, jumped more than 17% ahead of the bell.

-- Thermo Fisher Scientific shares gained 2.4% premarket after the analytical-equipment maker reported a sharply higher profit as the response to the Covid-19 pandemic boosted the company's sales.

Market Fact

China's short-term lending rates shot up to their highest levels in two years last week, with the weighted average of the one-day interbank collateralized repo hitting nearly 7% Friday. As recently as Jan. 22, it was only 2.5%.

Chart of the Day

So-called blank-check companies are a hit with individual investors looking for speculative trades.

Must Reads Since You Went to Bed

Streetwise: Gambling? In the stock market? I'm shocked.

Investors Consider Next Move as Signs of a Bubble Mount

Former JPMorgan Banker Acquitted in 'Sons and Daughters' Bribery Trial

The Real Force Driving the GameStop Revolution

Some GameStop Investors Got In With One Goal -- to Pay Off Debt

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 01, 2021 07:25 ET (12:25 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.