Stocks Inch Higher, Civil Unrest Caps Reopening Optimism
This weekend's protests are holding stocks level midday
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is hovering above breakeven at midday, as Wall Street attempts to break down the economic implications of this weekend's protests, especially amid the gradual economic reopening. The S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) are also trading flat at the halfway point, inching higher after a morning spent in the red, with investors attempting to maintain the upward momentum seen during April and May.
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Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) is seeing an overwhelming surge in bullish activity, after Baird lifted its price target to $233 from $205 -- a nearly 11% premium to its Friday close. So far, 14,000 calls have crossed the tape, which is 12 times what is typically seen at this point, volume running in the 99th percentile of its annual range. A large portion of this activity is centered around the June 220 call, where new positions are being opened. The equity hit a record high of $214.89 earlier today and was last seen up 1.3% to trade at $213.20, now amounting a 37.6% quarterly gain.
Industrial manufacturing name Cemtrex Inc (NASDAQ:CETX) is by far the top stock on the Nasdaq today, up 172.9% at $2.56 at last check after its subsidiary Vicon released its new Thermal Body Temperature Measurement Camera, the V1 100B-THM-TEMP, is designed to help organizations keep the spread of COVID-19 to a minimum amid the economy's gradual reopening. The stock is eyeing its highest close in nearly a year and just cleared its 320-day moving average for the first time since June 2017.
Fellow penny stock and biotech name Iterum Therapeutics PLC (NASDAQ:ITRM), on the other hand, is languishing at the bottom of the Nasdaq, off 49.6% at $2.12 this afternoon after the company's experimental urinary tract infection treatment, Sulopenem missed its main goal in a mid-stage study. The stock nearly brushed against its March 18, record low of $1.40 earlier today, plummeting to $1.41. ITRM has since pared some of these losses but is set to close below recent support at its 20-day moving average for the first time since late-April.