Key Takeaways
Major U.S. equities indexes ticked higher to start the new trading week as markets further digested the results of last week's election and the latest interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
The S&P 500 added 0.1% on Monday . The Nasdaq wavered for most of the day but closed with a gain of a bit less than 0.1%, with surging cryptocurrency prices buoying shares of tech firms with ties to crypto. The Dow built on its post-election rally, jumping 0.7% to notch its first-ever close above 44,000. Bond markets were closed in observance of Veterans Day.
Shares of pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb ( BMY ) popped 10.5% higher, logging the top daily performance in the S&P 500, after competitor AbbVie ( ABBV ) reported that its experimental schizophrenic treatment failed to reach the desired goals in a Phase 2 trial. Bristol-Myers Squibb entered the schizophrenia treatment market through last year's acquisition of biopharma firm Karuna Therapeutics, whose drug KarXT received approval from the Food and Drug Administration in September. AbbVie shares plunged 12.6% on Monday.
Albemarle ( ALB ) shares jumped 9.6%, continuing their march higher since the world's largest lithium miner released third-quarter results last week. Although Albemarle reported a net loss of $1.1 billion, the company announced a 50% reduction in capital expenditures in 2025, as well as other cost-cutting measures that include laying off around 6% of its global workforce. Analysts suggested these moves could help Albemarle navigate low lithium prices, which the company expects to persist for some time.
Tesla ( TSLA ) shares surged 9%, extending a string of gains posted in the wake of last week's election. There are expectations that Elon Musk, Tesla CEO and vocal supporter of President-elect Donald Trump, will play an advisory role in the next administration, where he could advocate on issues like tariffs and tax credits. Analysts at Wedbush lifted their price target on Tesla shares by $100, saying Trump's election could be transformative for the company's automation and artificial intelligence (AI) ambitions.
The weakest performance in the S&P 500 came from shares of Monolithic Power Systems ( MPWR ), which plummeted 15%. The move followed a report by market analysis firm Edgewater Research indicating that semiconductor behemoth Nvidia ( NVDA ) could reduce or cancel its use of Monolithic Power's voltage regulation module in its next-generation AI chips.
Vaccine maker Moderna (
MRNA
) reported a surprise third-quarter profit when it released its results last week, but the stock has been moving lower since then, dropping an additional 8.7% on Monday. Despite the strong performance in the recent quarter, analysts expressed uncertainty about future vaccine demand as well as Moderna's ability to maintain market share.
