Movers: Bristol-Myers, Catalent, Etsy, Moderna, Pinduoduo, Walmart

Barry Adams
29 Aug, 2022
New York City

Stocks extended losses after Friday's selloff and energy prices inched higher.

Benchmark indexes eased as investors digested Friday's comments from the Federal Reserve chief and prepared for higher rates after the remaining two meetings of the policymakers in the year.

Eight-week long market rally from the lows of mid-June was powered by investors hoping economic soft landing and interest rate to even decline next year.

The S&P 500 index declined 0.6% to 4,034.10 and the Nasdaq Composite index dropped 1.0% to 12,018.90.

Tech stocks led the decliners in a broad selloff for the second day but the energy complex stock advanced after crude oil prices continued to advance on tight demand supply conditions.

The natural gas prices in Europe are still running nine times, yes nine-fold, higher to the U.S. prices on the persistent worries of Russian supply in the coming months.

Futures of crude oil rose $2.94 to $95.96 a barrel and natural gas advanced 15 cents to $9.55 a British thermal unit.

The yield on 10-year Treasury notes inched up to 3.11% and two-year notes rose to 3.41%.

In trading on Wall Street, stocks lacked direction in morning trading but sell overwhelmed buy orders.

Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon.com, and Apple declined between 0.5% and 1.3%.

Apple Inc is scheduled to release new products at its annual gathering next week. 

Analysts are anticipating the release of the iPhone versions that meets the demand from price conscious consumers and improvement in battery life.  

Diamondback Energy, Exxon Mobil, Marathon Oil, Hess Corp, Occidental Petroleum, Halliburton, and Valero Energy rose between 2% and 5%.

JB Hunt, Domino's Pizza, and Bristol-Myers Squibb were among the leading decliners with a loss between 3% and 6%. 

Bristol-Myers Squibb fell 6.5% to $66.85 after the drug maker said the blood thinner product it is developing in partnership with Johnson & Johnson failed to meet certain milestones in its phase 2 trial. 

Milvexian, the blood thinner, is considered a key compound in the Bristol-Myers strategy to develop products before the expiry of its blockbuster blood thinner, Eliquis. 

Johnson & Johnson declined 0.5% to $163.50. 

Despite the setback, both companies in a joint press release said they plan to conduct more advanced tests and pursue additional research and testing. 

Catalent Inc declined 6.8% to $92.88 after the drug discovery and manufacturing company's annual outlook fell shy of investors expectations. 

Revenues in the fiscal fourth quarter ending in June increased 10% to $1.3 billion and net earnings rose to $184 million from $167 million a year ago. 

Diluted earnings per share rose to $1.04 from 98 cents a year ago. 

For fiscal year 2023, the company guided revenues in the range of $4.975 billion and $5.225 billion and adjusted net net income between $660 million and $730 million. 

Etsy Inc increased 0.8% to $105.17 and the online platform operator tightened its seller's account and bank account information.

Moderna Inc increased 1.2% to $138.43 after Swiss regulators approved the company's latest vaccine that targets the omicron variant.

Pinduoduo Inc soared 16.6% to $67.14 after the China-based online commerce platform operator reported better-than-expected quarterly results. 

Walmart Inc rose 1.4% to $133.49 and the retailer offered to acquire the remaining stake in the South Africa-based Massmart for $378 million.

Walmart's offer for the 47% stake of Massmart is 53% higher than Friday's close price.