Live Markets U.s.: IPO market looks to serve up direct listings, and avocados

Oncorus

28/09/2020 19:14

* Wall St's major indexes up more than 1%, small caps
outperform
    * All S&P sectors up; energy, financials, industrials gain
most 
    * Crude, gold rise; dollar falls; U.S. 10-yr yield 0.664%

    Sept 28 (Reuters) - Welcome to the home for real-time
coverage of U.S. equity markets brought to you by Reuters stocks
reporters and anchored today by Sinéad Carew. Reach Sinéad on
Messenger to share your 
thoughts on market moves:
sinead.carew.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net 
    
    IPO MARKET LOOKS TO SERVE UP DIRECT LISTINGS, AND AVOCADOS
(1414 EDT/1814 GMT)
    This week's IPO lineup offers a little something for
everyone as 13 companies, including two direct listings, look to
go public.
    Palantir Technologies Inc  PLTR.N , the data analytics firm
known for its secretive work with the CIA and other government
groups, and workplace app Asana Inc  ASAN.N  are planning direct
listings for Wednesday, Sept. 30. They would be this year's
first direct listings following Slack Technologies  WORK.N  in
2019 and Spotify  SPOT.N  in 2018  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2GB3PW  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2FQ3RM.
    And for those interested in the fresh-food theme, avocado
supplier Mission Produce, is looking to price an up to $159
million IPO on Wednesday  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nGNX5r0mxy.
    Here's the current list of IPOs on tap, by expected pricing
date:
    
    Sept. 28: 
    Orphazyme (Denmark, biotech) (~$100 mln)
    
    Sept. 29:
    Chindata Group (China, data centers) (~$500 mln)
    Yalla Group  YALA.N  (UAE, social media) (~$150 mln)
    
    Sept. 30:s
    Boqii  BQ.N  (China, online pet retailer) (~$80 mln)
    Mission Produce (US, agriculture) (~$159 mln)
    Pulmonx  LUNG.O  (US, medical device) (~$100 mln)
    
    Oct 1.:
    Academy Sports & Outdoors  ASO.O  (US, retailer) (~$250 mln)
    C4 Therapeutics  CCCC.O  (US, biotech) (~$150 mln)
    Oncorus  ONCR.O  (US, biotech) (~$90 mln)
    Immunome  IMNM.O  (US, biotech) (~$30 mln)
    Lixiang Education  LXEH.O  (China,primary/secondary
education) (~$30 mln)
    
    (Lance Tupper)
    *****
    
        
    BIDEN/TRUMP DEBATE COULD SPARK MARKET VOLATILITY (1326
EDT/1726 GMT) 
    U.S. stock futures and other securities could see volatility
Tuesday night if the first of three presidential debates between
President Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Joe Biden comes
off as a major win for either candidate.
    Betting services on average are offering odds on the Nov. 3
election that give Biden a 54% chance of winning, election vs
45% for Trump, according to RealClearPolitics https://www.realclearpolitics.com/elections/betting_odds/2020_president/index.html,
 amounting to nearly a coin toss between the two.
    Making things more uncertain, this year's vote count could
extend beyond election day because of the increased use of
mail-in ballots by voters concerned about the coronavirus. And
last week Trump said he expected the election battle to end up
before the Supreme Court.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2GK20O
    A debate victory for either candidate that decisively
changes the odds for the election outcome could affect stocks,
the Mexican peso  MXN=  and other financial assets. 
    For example, ahead of the 2016 presidential election, a
Sept. 26 debate between Trump and Hillary Clinton sparked a 2%
surge in the Mexican currency, as well as a gain in S&P 500
futures  ESc1  and moves in oil, gold and Treasuries, according
to a University of Michigan and Dartmouth College study https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/what-do-financial-markets-think-of-the-2016-election_102016_wolferszitzewitz.pdf.
    A decisive debate showing from Trump could boost U.S. energy
stocks like Occidental Petroleum  OXY.N  and Enterprise Products
Partners  EPD.N , while a strong showing from Biden could help
shares of healthcare firms such as HMS Holdings  HMSY.O  and
Molina Healthcare  MOH.N , said Ben Phillips, head of Global
Policy Index, a firm focused on how government policy affects
individual stocks.
    Many investors view Biden as more likely to raise taxes, and
see a second term for Trump, who favors deregulation, as better
for the overall stock market.
    However, a Biden election win could boost the S&P 500  .SPX 
by about 1% the following day, while a Trump re-election would
push the index down about 4%, according to an analysis by
Cornerstone Macro based on a statistical comparison of recent
asset prices and election betting odds.
    One interpretation of that analysis is that investors may
view a Trump win as increasing risks related to trade tensions,
Cornerstone Marco wrote in a recent report.
    
    (Noel Randewich)
     *****
    
    WALL ST RALLIES WITH CYCLICALS LEADING (1231 EDT/1631 GMT)
    Equities across the board were rising on Monday, with Wall
Street's three major indexes all gaining more than 1% as
portfolio managers preparing for the quarter end jumped back
into growth stocks after a recent selloff.
    "It's a spill-over from last week where tech stocks had
gotten a little oversold but managed to hold key support, and
those that were fearful that things were going to come unraveled
felt a little better toward the end of the week," said Michael
James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities
in Los Angeles.  
    Gains in European stocks also helped the market's mood,
according to James who also sees portfolio positioning ahead of
Wednesday's quarter-end as a key factor.  
    "If anything, portfolio managers are going to want to show
more, not less, of the large cap growth tech winners that have
propelled the market further higher since the beginning of
July," he said. 
    Cyclical sectors such as energy  .SPNY , financials  .SPSY 
and industrials  .SPLRCI  were also helped by hopes of a new
stimulus bill.   
    U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in
Congress, said on Sunday that she thinks a deal can be reached
with the White House on a coronavirus relief package and that
talks were continuing.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2GO05F
    Gains in financial stocks also were likely helping small cap
indices outperform, James said.
    Here is your early afternoon snapshot: 
    
 
 
 
    (Sinéad Carew)
     *****
    
    
    PREPARE TO BE SPOOKED IN OCTOBER (1045 EDT/1445 GMT)
    Wall Street is soaring so far on Monday. Yet the end of
September may not close the book on recent declines in U.S.
stocks, according to Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at
CFRA Research.
    While the depth and duration of the market's slide is still
in question, Stovall wrote in a recent research note, he sees
the S&P 500  .SPX  falling again to test its 200-day moving
average. With the 200-day moving average at 3108.17, a retest
would imply a 5.8% drop from Friday's close of 3298.46.
    Indeed, October has a volatile history, Stovall noted.
    The highest percentage surge for October, 16.9% in 1974, was
the highest monthly gain on record, while the deepest decline in
October, 21.8% in 1987, was the steepest plungest ever.
October's standard deviation of monthly returns is 36% higher
than the average for all other months. 
    Moreover, since 1994, Octobers in presidential election
years have on average recorded a decline. Though the market has
risen 58% of the time during those Octobers, the steep declines
on other occasions have pulled down the average.
    Stovall described October as a "capitulation month," since
the greatest percentage of declines of 5% or more happen in that
month, and they are usually "swift and sharp selloffs."
    U.S. stocks have often troughed in October, Stovall added.
Since World War II, 35% of all pullbacks - declines of 5.0% to
9.9% - and 22% of corrections - declines of 10.0% to 19.9% - and
38% of all bear markets - declines of 20% or more - have ended
in October.
    "Investors may be convinced that Halloween was purposely
placed in October because the market's actions can be so
spooky," he wrote.
    (Sinéad Carew) 
    ***** 

    STOCK FUTURES POINT TO OPENING GAIN (0859 EDT/1259 GMT) 
    Wall Street futures were gaining ground on Monday
potentially setting equities up for a snap-back after four
straight weeks of declines. 
    Optimism appeared to be spilling over from Asian trading
hours after data showed profits at China's industrial firms grew
for the fourth straight month in August.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2GO0QV
    The S&P 500 had risen on Thursday and Friday but for the
week had it declined 0.6% while the Dow fell 1.74%.  .N 
    Here is your morning snapshot:  
    
 
 
   (Sinéad Carew)
    *****





   
        
    
    


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Futures gain ground, indicating higher open    https://tmsnrt.rs/3kWXbOi
Wall Street gains across the board    https://tmsnrt.rs/3cC16gc
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 (Lance Tupper is a is a Reuters market analyst. The views
expressed are his own)