US OPEN: Wall Street opens higher as vote counting continues

 

US indices launched the session higher with election results so far pointing to the odds of Joe Biden winning the presidency although ballots continued to be counted in battleground states Nevada, Arizona, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia. Meanwhile  President Donald Trump filed lawsuits and called for recounts. Investors also assess the likelihood of gridlock in Congress which on one side, will make the passage of new stimulus package more difficult. On the other side gridlock could reduce the chance of major policy changes that would hurt corporate America. Tech-giants stocks including Apple, Amazon and Alphabet extended yesterday gains and rose more than 2% each in early premarket trading. 

Meanwhile US set a one-day record for new coronavirus cases on Wednesday with at least 102,591 new infections. Nine states reported record one-day increases in cases on Wednesday: Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin. Recent data also showed a soaring number of hospitalizations in many states, mainly in the Midwest and Southwest, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

On the data front, the number of  weekly jobless claims rose to 751k and came in above market expectations of 732k. Later in the day investors will follow Chair Powell's press conference but FED is expected to repeat its pledge to do whatever it can to help the economy.

 

General Motors (GM.US) stock rose over 6% after company posted quarterly earnings of $2.83 per share, which came in well above analysts' expectations of $1.38 a share, thanks to high demand for trucks and SUVs. The automaker's revenue came in line with market estimates.

 

Amazon's (AMZN.US) CEO Jeff Bezos has sold more than $3 billion shares in his company this week as a part of a predetermined planning accordance with insider trading laws, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This is the third time this year that Bezos sold Amazon stocks. Back in August he sold shares worth $3.1 billion and in February made a sale of shares worth $ 4 billion. Still Bezos owns 53 million shares worth nearly $170 billion, making him the richest person in the world.

 

Cigna (CI.US) – The insurance company reported quarterly earnings of $4.41 per share which came in 17 cents a share above market expectations. Revenue also beat forecasts, thanks to better than expected performance of company’s health services unit.

Regeneron (REGN.US) reported quarterly earnings of $8.36 per share well above the $7.14 a share consensus estimate. The drugmaker’s revenue also topped market estimates, boosted by higher sales of drugs like eye treatment Eylea and eczema drug Dupixent.

Hanesbrands (HBI.US) –  stock rose 14% in premarket trading after company posted quarterly earnings of 42 cents per share, slightly above analysts' expectations of 39 cents per share. Revenue also came in above forecasts. The apparel maker reported higher sales for its Champion brand, and  overall increase of its digital sales.

Qualcomm (QCOM.US) stock jumped 14% in pre-market after chipmaker reported quarterly earnings of $1.45 per share well above market expectations of $1.17 a share. Revenue also beat market estimates. Chipmaker provided upbeat guidance for the current quarter as Apple (AAPL.US) and other phone producers are increasing production of 5G phones that utilize Qualcomm chips.

Apple (AAPL.US) is reportedly experiencing chip shortages due to strong iPhone demand, according to people with knowledge of the matter who spoke to Bloomberg.