(AOF) – Wall Street is moving in the green as we approach mid-session. Investors are reassured by studies on Omicron showing that those infected were less likely to be hospitalized. Stronger US economic data also supported markets ahead of the Christmas holidays, and allowed major stock indexes to erase Monday’s steep decline and end the shortened holiday week green. Around 5 p.m., the Dow Jones gained 0.6% to 35,963.7 points while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.51% to 15,601.2 points.
JD.com fell nearly 10% to $ 66,535. Chinese social media and games giant Tencent Holdings will pay shareholders a dividend of $ 16.4 billion after reducing its stake in Chinese e-commerce specialist JD.com. The sale of around 457 million shares of JD.com would reduce Tencent’s stake to just over 2%, from the current 17%. After the distribution, the American distribution giant Walmart will become the largest shareholder of JD.com with a 9.3% stake.
Today’s economic figures
In the United States, new home sales jumped 12.4% to 744,000 year on year in November.
The American consumer confidence index measured by the University of Michigan came out in the final version in December at 70.6 against 70.4 in the first estimate and after 67.4 in November.
Durable goods orders rose 2.5% in November when they were expected to rise 1.5% after rising 0.1%, a figure revised from -0.5% in October. Excluding transport, they increased by 0.8, but were expected at + 0.6% against + 0.3% in October, a revised figure of + 0.5%.
The core PCE price index, which is one of the Fed’s favorite measures of inflation, rose 0.5% in November when it was expected to rise 0.4%. It had already increased by 0.5% in October, a revised figure of + 0.4%.
Revenues rose 0.4% in November in the United States, whereas they were expected to rise 0.4% after + 0.5% in October. Household consumption rose 0.6% in November in the United States, whereas it was expected to rise 0.6% after + 1.4% in October, a revised figure of + 1.3%.
205,000 jobless claims were registered during the week of December 18, after 205,000 the previous week, a revised figure of 206,000. The consensus stands at 206,000.
The values to follow today
Fangs
Crocs acquired Italian shoe maker Heydude for $ 2.5 billion. The deal will be funded by $ 2.05 billion in cash and $ 450 million in Crocs shares. “With the acquisition of Heydude, we are delighted to add another high growth and highly profitable brand to our portfolio,” said Andrew Rees, Managing Director of Crocs, in a press release. “We believe that Heydude’s casual, comfortable and lightweight products are aligned with long-term consumer trends and are a perfect fit for Crocs.”
JD.com/Tencent
Chinese social media and games giant Tencent Holdings will pay shareholders a dividend of $ 16.4 billion after reducing its stake in e-commerce company JD.com. The sale of around 457 million shares of JD.com would reduce Tencent’s stake to just over 2%, from the current 17%. After the distribution, US retail giant Walmart will become JD.com’s largest shareholder, with a 9.3% stake.
Novavax
Novavax announced last night that first data showed that its Covid vaccine was effective against the Omicron variant. A two-dose regimen has demonstrated broad responsiveness to different variants, including Omicron. The immune response increased after a third dose at six months.
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A day after saying he had “sold enough” shares to meet his goal of selling 10% of his stake in Tesla, chief executive Elon Musk tweeted on Wednesday that he was “almost done.” According to SEC documents, he exercised more stock options and sold 934,000 additional shares, valued at approximately $ 928.6 million.
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