Stocks Soar as S&P 500 Reclaims 3,000
The Dow is up over 550 points midday
All three major indexes are barreling higher at midday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) up nearly 600 points at last check, as investors unpack vaccine news and a slew of positive economic sentiment. Furthermore, both the blue-chip index and the S&P 500 Index (SPX) havebroken above key levels, with the latter reclaiming the round 3,000 level --an area that coincides with its 200-day moving average -- for the first time since early March. As the U.S. continues to ease lockdowns, investors are hopeful that the worst of thecoronavirus-induced market slide is over.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
This home goods retailer picked up a price-target hike.The blue-chip stock blasting onto the vaccine scene.Plus, SPWR sees a surge in options volume; airline purchaser upgraded; and Moderna stock dropping amid sector buzz.
One stock seeing unusual options activity today is SunPower Corp (NASDAQ:SPWR), up 10.8% at $7.44 at last check. The global energy company has seen 15,000 calls and 1,081 puts across the tape so far, 3.6 times the average daily volume.Most popular is the weekly 5/29 7.5-strike call, where new positions are being opened. Though the reason for today's rise and options spike is unclear, SPWR is now 4.6% below its year-to-date break-even point.
Scaling the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) today is Fly Leasing Ltd (NYSE:FLY), up 24.1% at $7.66 at last check. This rise comes after J.P. Morgan upgraded the airline purchasing stock to "overweight" from "neutral", though it trimmedits price target to $15. Today's bull gap is running out of steam at the shares' descending 60-day moving average, but FLY is now up 59.4% in the last month.
On the other hand, a little worse for wear on the Nasdaq today is Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA), down 10.6% at $61.69 at last check, as other biotech companies make coronavirus vaccine announcements. Today's drop has MRNA a chip-shot aboveits 20-day moving average, and down 14.3% in the last week. In 2020 so far, the equity is still up an impressive 213.8%.