Midday Market Highlights: Key Biotech Stocks & $10 Investment Gems

Stocks experienced a significant rise on Thursday as traders processed the Federal Reserve's decision to lower interest rates by half a percentage point. The latest weekly jobless claims report, showing a drop of 12,000 to 219,000—well below expectations—offered further validation that the Fed is successfully engineering a soft landing for the economy.

At 11:31 AM ET, the Dow was up 413.64 points, or 1%, at $41916.75. The Nasdaq Composite added 527.97 points, or 2.7293%, at $19872.4679. The S&P 500 rose 94.2803 points, or 1.6781%, at $5712.54. Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, 8 showed negative movement, with Energy leading the way with a -1.18% decrease.

Tech stocks led the charge, with Nvidia and AMD shares jumping more than 5% and 4%, respectively. Micron Technology saw an increase of over 2%, while other major players like Meta and Alphabet rose 3.3% and 2.2%.

Additionally, stocks tied to lower rates also saw gains. Financial giant JPMorgan Chase climbed 1.5%, while industrial stocks Caterpillar and Home Depot advanced by 3.3% and 1.5%, respectively.

The Fed's move to cut the overnight lending rate to a range of 4.75% to 5.00%—the first reduction in four years—initially surprised some investors who questioned the size of the cut. Despite a day of volatility on Wednesday that ended with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones closing lower after briefly hitting record highs, the market is responding positively to the Fed's actions

Top Movers: Under $10

Signing Day Sports Inc (SGN) is up 484.37% today to trade at the current level of $0.76. This comes after Swifty Global has signed a binding Letter of Intent to be acquired by Signing Day Sports.

Exicure Inc (XCUR) zoomed 67.36% in today’s trade to $3.83. This rally can be attributed to news that on September 17, 2024, the company received notice that the Nasdaq Hearings Panel granted an extension to continue the Company’s listing subject to the Company evidencing compliance with all applicable criteria for continued listing on The Nasdaq Capital Market by November 14, 2024.

In current trading, Garden Stage Ltd (GSIW) stock is at $4.80 following news earlier this week that multiple strategic cooperation agreements have been reached with Indicator Global Inc, an Investment Adviser Firm registered with US SEC with registration number 802-130189 and CRD number 331058.

Rezolve AI Ltd (RZLV) rose 24.63% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $5.92. The strong performance of RZLV stock came as investors were encouraged by the recent announcement by Microsoft and BlackRock to invest $30 billion into AI infrastructure.

In the current trading session, Achilles Therapeutics Plc ADR (ACHL) jumped 32.46% to $0.94 over a previous close of $0.71 as it announced the discontinuation of its TIL-based cNeT program and closure of the Phase I/IIa CHIRON and THETIS clinical trials.

Ex-Dividends Stocks

Dicks Sporting Goods, Inc. (DKS) is about to trade ex-dividend tomorrow, meaning that investors who buy the stock after tomorrow will not be eligible for the next dividend payment. The company's next dividend payment will be $1.1 per share. The company has fixed September 20 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on October 04. Last year, the company distributed a total of $4.20 to its shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, DKS has a trailing yield of 1.94% on the current stock price of $216.99.

Shares of American Healthcare REIT Inc (AHR) will be the talk of stock market on Friday as the stock will turn ex-dividend. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.25 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of $0.50 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that AHR has a trailing yield of 1.94% on the current share price of $25.74.

Tomorrow, Vistra Corp (VST) is also set to go ex-dividend tomorrow. The next dividend payment from VST will amount to $0.22 per share. September 20 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for September 30. In the previous year, VST distributed a total of $0.85 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for VST stands at 0.93% based on the current stock price of $91.34.

Playtika Holding Corp (PLTK) will be paying out a dividend of $0.1 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of the business hours on the record date of September 20. Over the past 12 months, PLTK has paid out a total of $0.20 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, PLTK boasts an impressive trailing yield of 2.43% on the current share price of $8.24.

Crypto Market Highlights

• Former US President Donald Trump visited a Bitcoin-themed bar in New York, where he bought burgers using Bitcoin as part of his efforts to engage with the cryptocurrency community during his 2024 presidential campaign.

• Germany's DZ Bank is partnering with Boerse Stuttgart Digital to offer cryptocurrency trading and custody services to its 700 cooperative bank customers, marking a significant move into digital assets for the country's second-largest bank.

• Despite the upcoming U.S. elections, many in the cryptocurrency sector, including experts like Charles Hoskinson and Arthur Hayes, believe the global momentum toward crypto is unstoppable, with market dynamics unlikely to be significantly affected by the outcome.

• Google Cloud has launched an Ethereum-compatible Blockchain RPC service to enhance developer interaction with blockchain data.

• Blockchain adoption in Asia Pacific is expected to expand into SMEs as the technology matures and scales, despite challenges like tax regulations and varying rules across jurisdictions.

Most Shorted Stocks

B. Riley Financial Inc (RILY) was one of the most shorted stocks as of latest short interest figures, with 78.26% short interest. The days to cover ratio, a measure of how long it would take for all the short positions to be covered based on average trading volume, is 4.0 Days to Cover. This represents a change of -40000 shares, which corresponds to a -0.33% decrease in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $72.41 million. The average daily volume stands at 3.15M shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $180.34M.

The Beyond Meat Inc with the symbol BYND currently has a short interest of 38.96%. The short interest has changed by -1870000 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 8.0 Days to Cover. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $148.96 million. On an average day, 2.98M shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $408.45M.

For the stock Guess Inc. (GES), the current short interest is at 34.73%. This represents a significant short interest change of 50000 shares, corresponding to a short interest percentage increase of +0.54%%. The days needed to cover the short positions amount to 7.2 Days to Cover. The approximate worth of the shares held short is $184.15 million.

With the symbol LMND, the stock currently has a short interest of 32.96%. The short interest change is 200000 shares, compared with a short interest percentage change of +1.20%%. It would take approximately 11.0 Days to Cover days to cover all the short positions. The shares short value is estimated to be around $171.77 million. The company boasts an average daily volume of 1.48M shares, contributing to a market capitalization of $1.31B.

The stock UPST has a current short interest of 27.32%. The short interest percentage has experienced increase of +4.18%% while there was a change of 980000 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 3.6 Days to Cover. The calculated worth of the shorted shares amounts to around $676.86 million. Trading activity averages at 7.21M shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $3.58B.

Biotech Stocks to Watch

According to our ST Score evaluation, Mannkind Corp (MNKD) emerges as a high-quality stock in the Biotech industry, attaining an impressive score of 68. The stock's profitability, performance, growth, stock sentiment, and Piotroski Score are strong. Additionally, it is neutral in terms of financial strength, and forecast.

Our ST Score also classifies Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Inc (CPRX) as a high-quality Biotech stock today, presenting a Score of 67. The stock has strong fundamentals in terms of profitability, performance, growth, financial strength, stock sentiment, and Piotroski Score. The forecast are neutral.

Another stock in the category, Biocryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. (BCRX) has the ST Score of 63, which means that the stock carries the potential for higher returns. The stock is strong in profitability, performance, growth, and stock sentiment but weak in Piotroski Score. Financial strength, and forecast suggest a neutral outlook.

Corcept Therapeutics Inc (CORT) stock has the ST Score of 62 which implies that the Biotech company has a high probability of beating the market. The stock's strengths lie in its profitability, performance, financial strength, stock sentiment, and Piotroski Score. However, it shows neutral outlook in growth, and forecast.

Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. (HALO) currently has the ST Score of 62, which signifies a huge upward potential. The Biotech stock's strong points are its profitability, performance, stock sentiment, and Piotroski Score. The stock's growth, financial strength, and forecast indicate a neutral outlook.

Best Regards,
Stocks Telegraph Team