Wall Street’s main stock indexes edged higher in what marked one of the last trading days of 2020 as investors grew more optimistic about the prospect of an economic rebound in the coming year amid the rollout of coronavirus vaccines and additional Covid-19 aid relief.
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index both rose 0.4%, while the S&P 500 Index added 0.3%.
Investors will closely be watching Intel shares after the chipmaker said it will engage with activist investor Third Point LLC on their ideas to increase shareholder value. Intel’s comments were in response to a Reuters report that the activist hedge fund, led by Daniel Loeb, sent a letter to its chairman urging the chipmaker to explore strategic avenues, including separating its chip design from its semiconductor production operations. Rosenblatt analyst Hans Mosesmann, who stuck to his Sell rating, commented: “So, would any strategic alternative that Intel could pursue change the competitive positioning for the better for the company in the next 2-years? Unlikely given that the hybrid manufacturing strategy is already expected by the Street. If other strategic alternatives are on the table, besides manufacturing, any customer engaged strategically with Intel today should be worried.” Shares slipped 1%.
Embattled AMC Entertainment lost another 6% after the movie theater chain filed a shelf offering to sell up to 50 million shares to raise up to $125 million. “We intend to use the net proceeds from the sale of the Class A common stock offered by this prospectus for general corporate purposes, which may include the repayment, refinancing, redemption or repurchase of existing indebtedness or capital stock, working capital, capital expenditures and other investments,” AMC stated in an SEC filing.
Coming to healthcare news, shares of Hepion Pharmaceuticals surged 15% after the biopharma company released “positive” top line trial results for its oral inhibitor used in the treatment of an advanced form of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Specifically, Hepion announced that the results from the low dose cohort in the company’s Phase 2a clinical trial showed that CRV431, an oral, once daily cyclophilin inhibitor, was generally safe and well tolerated and demonstrated clinically significant reductions in important biomarkers.
On the coronavirus front, AstraZeneca rose about 1% after the UK became the first country to grant emergency use of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine. The company said that it was releasing its first doses today so that vaccinations may begin in early 2021. The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, or MHRA, has granted emergency authorization for the supply of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine for the active immunization of individuals 18 years or older. The authorization recommends two doses administered with an interval of between four and 12 weeks.
Moderna announced that it is in talks to potentially supply the government of South Korea with 40 million or more doses of its COVID-19 vaccine. Under the terms of the proposed agreement, distribution of Moderna’s mRNA-1273 vaccine would begin in the second quarter of 2021. The talks come just a day after the biotech company secured a $1.97 billion contract from the US army to manufacture an additional 100 million doses of mRNA-1273 by June 30, 2021. Shares declined 2.8%.
In cannabis news, Sundial Growers has paid $58.9 million in cash to buy a special purpose vehicle (SPV) owning $58.9 million of senior secured debt of Zenabis Investments. Following the investment, Sundial now has an unrestricted cash balance of approximately $51 million and about 919 million common shares outstanding. The acquired senior loan expires on March 31, 2025 and bears interest at a rate of 14% per annum. Shares gained 2.5%.
Last, but not least, Dada Group jumped 4.5% as China’s leading local on-demand delivery and retail platform was ranked 211th on the Hurun Research Institute’s “China’s Top 500 Private Enterprises in 2020” list, based on market value. Dada’s business model and omni-channel digital platform allows retailers, brand owners and users to grow their online traffic by cutting costs and enhancing efficiency through its Haibo system.
