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 Shares of Novavax Inc. jumped 9% in premarket trading on Wednesday after the company said it had identified a COVID-19 vaccine candidate. There are no approved vaccines for the novel coronavirus. Novavax said it plans to begin Phase 1 clinical trials in mid-May for the candidate, which "produces high levels of neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in animal studies," Novavax president of R&D Gregory Glenn said in a statement. The first phase of the placebo-controlled study will enroll 130 healthy adults; the first round of data from that study is expected in July. Novavax in March said it had received $4 million from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, a global organization that has provided millions of dollars in funding to vaccine makers during the pandemic. Year-to-date, Novavax's stock has soared 274%, while the S&P 500 has dropped 17%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
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European equities slip after ministers fail to reach a deal on response to pandemic
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 U.S. stock-index futures on Wednesday rise, a day after the Dow and S&P 500 staged the biggest reversals since the 2008 financial crisis, as investors struggle to gauge the economic outlook in the aftermath of COVID-19.
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 Canada's main stock index futures were higher on Wednesday, as
oil prices steadied on hopes that a meeting between OPEC members
and allied producers on Thursday will trigger output cuts.
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Starbucks Corp. said Wednesday that it has committed $10 million to coronavirus-related economic relief efforts for workers at company-owned and licensed stores around the world. The new Starbucks Global Partner Emergency Relief Program, part of the effort, will offer one-time grants to those in need. Part of the $10 million commitment will benefit the company's existing CUP Fund, which has a similar goal. The money will also help Starbucks markets around the world fund programs to help workers. Starbucks shares are down 8.6% over the past year while the S&P 500 index has fallen 8.2%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
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U.S. stock futures point to a gain for the Dow at Wednesday's open after blue chips gave up an over 900-point surge in the prior session.
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Spirit Aerosystems Holdings Inc. is taking a series of measures to cut costs after Boeing Co. suspended all deliveries to its Washington state and South Carolina facilities until further notice. Measures include cutting 2,800 workers at its Wichita, Kansas operations and cutting 400 workers in Oklahoma. The company has launched a voluntary early retirement program for 850 hourly and salaried workers. It has deferred $120 million in capital expenditures and negotiated an amendment to credit facilities that will offer covenant relief into 2021. The company has secured a $375 million short-term delayed draw term loan facility. It has cut its dividend to a penny a share and will continue to suspend share buybacks. Pay for all U.S. executives has been cut by 20% until further notice and the company has furloughed all production workers and managers in Wichita, Kansas and Oklahoma that support Boeing programs. The company had a cash balance of about $1.83 billion as of April 2 and a debt balance of about $3.04 billion, Its $800 million revolver remains fully drawn. Shares rose 3.8% premarket but have fallen 75% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 has fallen 18%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
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Daily U.S. stock market volatility is no illusion. Analysts at Bespoke Investment Group note that average daily price moves over the past five weeks are the largest since the aftermath of the 1929 crash.
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Live updates on stock market and business news during the coronavirus outbreak.
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The stocks making the biggest moves in premarket trading include Tesla, Amazon, Disney, Boeing, and Zoom Video.
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Facing sustained backlash for its privacy and security policies, Zoom Video Communications Inc. issued another update on its efforts to improve its practices Wednesday. The company announced in a blog post that it has "officially" formed its CISO Council made up of chief information security officers from various industries. The company is also a creating an advisory board within that council that "will include security leaders from VMware , Netflix , Uber , Electronic Arts , and others." Zoom announced as well that Stanford adjunct professor Alex Stamos has joined the company as an advisor. The company calls him "a widely respected expert on cybersecurity" and points to prior experience working as the chief security officer of Facebook Inc. . Zoom shares are up 2% in premarket trading Wednesday. The stock has shed 22% so far in April as the S&P 500 has advanced about 3%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
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General Motors Co. was downgraded Wednesday to hold from buy at Deutsche Bank, with analyst Emmanuel Rosner citing worries about liquidity in the face of COVID-19-related production shutdowns. He slashed his stock price target by 39%, to $25 from $41. He also cut his stock price target for Ford Motor Co. by 30%, to $7 from $10, while maintaining his hold rating. "Despite considerable declines in equity values since the start of the Covid crisis, we see additional downside risk for U.S. autos stocks, in light of significant liquidity concerns from the prolonged production shutdown," Rosner wrote in a note to clients. "We now estimate Ford and GM only have 15-17 weeks of liquidity under shutdown conditions before they hit their minimum cash levels." GM's stock rose 0.5% i premarket trading and Ford shares gained 2.3%. Year to date, shares of GM have lost 41.8% through Tuesday and Ford has shed 49.4%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has declined 20.6%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
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Activision Blizzard's stock is outperforming the broader markets, as it could see high single-digit y-o-y sales growth in 2020 (vs a 13% decline in 2019), amid the current coronavirus crisis. The World Health Organization declared coronavirus a pandemic at the end of January...
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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state recorded its biggest one-day increase in deaths from the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 on Tuesday, as 731 fatalities brought the tally to 5,489. There are now 138,836 cases of the virus in New York, making it the epicenter of the U.S. pandemic. The number of new hospitalizations also rose, said Cuomo, but the three-day average has fallen, raising hopes that the state is reaching an apex for hospitalizations. Daily moves into intensive-care units and intubations were also lower, he told reporters at a daily briefing.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
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