Merger Activities and Tech Rally Dominated Monday Trading, World Markets Soar

Barry Adams
09 Jan, 2023
New York City

U.S. stocks opened higher and benchmark indexes accelerated gains after widely held tech stocks gained between 2% and 4%.

Benchmark indexes advanced for the second day in a row after Friday's jobs report slightly higher-than-expected increase in December jobs but wage gains moderated. 

The decelerating jobs gain lifted hopes of smaller rate hikes and fueled a sharp worldwide market rally in Monday's trading following a 2% surge in Friday. 

The rally lost steam and the S&P 500 lost the session's gains towards the close but the Nasdaq Composite managed to close in the positive territory. 

The easing of rate  hike worries and growing belief that the inflation may have peaked at least for now, fueled the stock advance for the second day in a row. 

However, the lingering worries of a recession and uncertain global economic backdrop kept investor enthusiasm in check. 

Merger Monday also drove deal driven stocks higher. 

 

Stock Rally Spills Over to Second Day 

Benchmark indexes opened higher and extended Friday's rally to the second day after inflation expectations cooled. 

Consumer survey conducted by the New York Federal Reserve in its district showed inflation outlook for one year ahead cooled to 5.0% in December from 5.2% in November. 

The S&P 500 index soared 2.99 points to 3,892.07 and the Nasdaq Composite index advanced 0.6% or 66.35 to 10,793.70.

 

U.S. Stock Movers 

Albireo Pharma Inc soared 92% to $43.82 after the US-based rare liver disease focused company agreed to merge with the French biopharma company Ipsen. 

AstraZeneca agreed to acquire the US-based CinCor Pharma for $1.8 billion.  

Goldman Sachs Group Inc rose 1.4% to $353.0 after the investment bank said it is planning to terminate as many as 3,200 positions, about 6% of its total staff. 

Lululemon Athletica Inc declined 9.3% to $298.66 after the company said its fourth quarter revenue is expected to be ahead of its expectations but gross margins are expected to shrink. 

Tesla Inc soared 5.9% to $119.77, Microsoft Corp increased 1.0% to $227.12, Apple Inc advanced 0.4% to $130.15. 

 

Brazil Reais Holds Despite Political Chaos 

The Brazilian reais fell 1.5% to 5.309 against the U.S. dollar after protestors and election deniers stormed the government buildings including presidential palace, National Congress and Supreme Federal court in capital city Brasilia on Sunday. 

The recently appointed President Luiz In