Stock market today: Live update

Deutsche Bank stood by Shanghai-based electric vehicle manufacturer NIO Inc. in a report out Thursday, rating the $12 billion stock a buy ahead of quarterly results due Dec. 5.

But the firm slashed its price target by 31% to $11 from $16. The new target still implies upside of 53% for NIO shares.

“Similar to earlier in the year, we think NIO must once again prove to investors that it can be a first-tier EV player,” analyst Edison Yu wrote in a nine-page note. “Competition is only getting fiercer and we worry the management team has yet to exhibit the tenacity required to consistently take market share from incumbents … but we do think a comeback is possible next year as the revamped sales strategy takes hold. Tactically, sentiment is very negative and can quickly change if management starts making more shareholder friendly moves (e.g., reduce costs, bring in more ecosystem partners).”

NIO’s sponsored ADRs are off 25% in 2023 after plunging 69% in 2022.

— Scott Schnipper

The Nasdaq Composite is one pace for 0.3% weekly gain following after a strong finish to November and start to the final trading month of 2023.

PDD Holdings is one of the best performers in the concentrated Nasdaq-100, with shares up nearly 22% week to date. Workday and Crowdstrike are also on track for big wins, with shares up about 15% and 12% respectively.

Other major winners include Palo Alto Networks and Lululemon Athletica, with shares up 11% and 8%, respectively, since the week began.

Some technology behemoths have underperformed, with shares of Alphabet and Meta Platforms down about 4% each. Nvidia’s lost 2%, while Marvell Technology is headed for a 6% loss.

— Samantha Subin

Despite the recent rally in equities, some analysts remain cautiously optimistic about the broader health of the economy.

Data released earlier Friday showed that U.S. manufacturing remained at low levels in November, according to the Institute for Supply Management, which said that its manufacturing PMI was unchanged at 46.7 last month. November was the 13th straight month during which the PMI came out below 50, which is an indicator of a slowdown in manufacturing.

“This was a disappointing number, definitely. It fell below expectations. But what’s important is that everything underneath also pointed to to significant slowdown,” said Anna Rathbun, chief investment officer for CBIZ Investment Advisory Services, taking the report as another sign of an emerging economic slowdown in 2024.

“The slowdown on American spending has already begun,” Rathbun said. “If we start seeing attrition in the labor force, is already a lagging indicator. It doesn’t bode well for 2024.”

According to Edward Jones’ senior investment strategist Mona Mahajan, this anticipated economic slowdown could actually provide a “good setup” heading into 2024, however, as it proves the market has avoided a deep recession and fought inflation.

“The slowdown, in some ways, will help confirm the end of this cycle and the start of a new economic cycle,” Mahajan said.

— Pia Singh

Oil prices continued their slide on Friday amid disappointment with OPEC+ production cuts and as U.S. oil rigs rose slightly week over week.

The West Texas Intermediate contract for January fell $1.89, or 2.49%, to $74.07 a barrel, while the Brent crude contract for February declined $1.98, or 2.45%, to $78.88 a barrel.

Oil has declined about 5% since Wednesday’s close despite efforts by OPEC and its allies, OPEC+, to boost prices.

Seven OPEC+ member Thursday promised cuts of 2.2 million bpd for the first quarter of 2024, but traders were skeptical that they would actually deliver.

Meanwhile, U.S. oil rigs rose by 5 week over week, but are down 122 year over year.

— Spencer Kimball

Some of the former leaders in the technology sector have enjoyed a strong rally in recent weeks that have helped push the U.S. stock market back near its highest level of the year.

Over the last month, Intel is up more than 16%, and IBM has jumped more than 9%. HP Inc. shares are up more than 10% in that same time frame. Dell was sliding on Friday after its third quarter report, but the stock is still up over 4% in the past month.

“While Nvidia garners all the attention, of all things Intel recently has outperformed. Together with almost daily new highs in IBM and Dell, it’s enough to make you think PCs are here to stay. These may not be as much fun as the Mag 7, but that’s only true if you define fun as volatility rather than making money. In any event, the real point here is that it is encouraging to see stocks like these acting well, in addition to the Nvidia’s of the world,” Wellington Shields analyst Frank Gretz said in a note to clients on Friday.

— Jesse Pound

Shares of Wendy’s were up more than 3% in afternoon trading after Reuters reported that activist hedge fund Blackwells Capital is preparing to push for board representation.

The report, citing people familiar with the matter, said that Blackwells planned to nominate multiple candidates for Wendy’s board.

Another activist fund, Nelson Peltz’s Trian, already owns a large stake in Wendy’s. Blackwells criticized Trian’s approach to Disney earlier this week, the Reuters report said.

— Jesse Pound

Guggenheim analyst Seamus Fernandez said Altimmune’s positive results with its experimental obesity drug trial open the door for the company to strike a partnership or be acquired. Shares of the clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company were up about 25% in trading on Friday afternoon.

On Thursday, the company said more than half of the patients enrolled in its pemvidutide trial achieved at least a 15% weight loss. Even better, about 30% of phase 2b trial participants, lost as much as 20% of their starting weight. These results would make the drug competitive with treatments like Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound.

Altimmune’s stock is down more than 75% this year, putting its market value at just over $200 million. Fernandez said the stock could trade at $10, which is about 150% higher than its current level.

—Christina Cheddar Berk

The Dow has outperformed this week, boosted by big rallies from a handful of members.

The blue-chip average is tracking to finish the week more than 2% higher. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are slated to end the week up just 0.7% and 0.1%, respectively.

Salesforce has led the index higher this week as investors cheered the software company’s earnings report. With a jump of 15.9%, the stock is poised to notch its best week since August 2020.

Boeing and American Express have seen the next biggest gains so far this week, adding more than 6% and 5%, respectively.

Despite the average’s ascent, about one-fifth of the 30-stock index is poised to close the week lower. Disney is on track to post the largest loss this week with a drop of more than 4%.

— Alex Harring

Here are some of the companies making the biggest moves during midday trading:

• Tesla — Tesla shares slipped less than 1% as Wall Street assessed the company’s long-anticipated Cybertruck following a delivery launch event Thursday in Texas.
• Disney — Disney shares were virtually flat after the entertainment giant reinstated its dividend at 30 cents per share amid a renewed proxy battle with Nelson Peltz and Trian Fund Management.
• Alibaba — Alibaba shares fell 2% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the China-based e-commerce company to equal weight, citing a slower-than-expected turnaround in its cloud business.

Read the full list of movers here.

— Samantha Subin

The TrueShares Technology, AI and Deep Learning ETF (LRNZ) climbed nearly 3% in Friday’s session and was on track for its fifth straight winning week.

Elastic gave the ETF upward momentum on Friday with a rally of more than 30%. UiPath and Samsara were also among the top performers, gaining more than 24% and 14%, respectively.

The stocks were also the three best performers within the index on the week, with Elastic and UiPath both slated to close more than 30% higher.

Elsewhere, a handful of members are on pace to end the week lower. Mobileye led the losers down with a drop of more than 7%. Okta followed, shedding more than 6%.

If the gains hold through Friday’s close, the ETF will end the week about 5% higher. With five winning weeks in a row, it would mark the longest positive streak since a seven-week long one that ended in June.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell described discussion of cutting interest rates as “premature,” saying more hikes could be on the horizon.

“It would be premature to conclude with confidence that we have achieved a sufficiently restrictive stance, or to speculate on when policy might ease,” Powell said in prepared remarks for an audience at Spelman College in Atlanta. “We are prepared to tighten policy further if it becomes appropriate to do so.”

His remarks come ahead of the central bank’s next meeting on Dec. 12-13. The Fed has kept rates level at its last two meetings.

“The strong actions we have taken have moved our policy rate well into restrictive territory, meaning that tight monetary policy is putting downward pressure on economic activity and inflation,” Powell said. “Monetary policy is thought to affect economic conditions with a lag, and the full effects of our tightening have likely not yet been felt.”

— Alex Harring, Jeff Cox

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is about to begin speaking at Spelman College in Atlanta. He will participate in a fireside chat after his speech.

Investors will keep an eye out for any insights into the health of the economy and state of inflation, as well as for any clues into the future of monetary policy.

His remarks, which are slated to begin around 11 a.m. ET, can be watched here.

— Alex Harring

Michael Wilson, Morgan Stanley’s chief U.S. equity strategist, cautioned that the near-term backdrop for earnings remains tough.

“The combination of weaker earnings revisions breadth, cautious corporate commentary, weaker leading survey data, and a decelerating fiscal impulse suggest that earnings headwinds will likely persist into early next year before a durable recovery takes hold,” Wilson said in a note to clients.

Wilson has been one of the biggest bears on Wall Street with the lowest S&P 500 year-end target of 3,900 among top strategists, according to CNBC Market Strategist Survey.

— Yun Li

Here’s how the major indexes opened on Friday:

— Pia Singh

More investors are anticipating a rate cut in the first half of 2024, but one analyst expects the Federal Reserve will need the all clear on inflation before it starts to ease. In fact, Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said the first rate cut will happen in the third quarter. 

“As for the Fed, more speeches will create more concern, but the expectations of a first half cut appear to have taken over the majority opinion,” Silverblatt wrote Thursday. 

“I, however, remain in the minority: the Fed needs the cinders of inflation to be cold and won’t risk even a whiff of inflation, meaning they will hold off until Q3 2024 (with continued strong employment for the half of 2024 not helping the first cut schedule),” he added.

— Sarah Min

Check out some of the companies making headlines in premarket trading.

• Elastic N.V. — Stock in the search company surged more than 18% following an upgrade to overweight from Wells Fargo. Analyst Andrew Nowinski noted Elastic is in a strong position to take advantage of a generative artificial intelligence opportunity for its search platform which could drive revenue moving forward.
• Walt Disney — Shares of the conglomerate ticked up 0.35% after the company announced it would reinstate a previous dividend of 30 cents per share, which follows a proxy battle from Nelson Peltz and his firm Trian Fund Management.
• Alibaba — The Chinese multinational slipped roughly 2% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to equal-weight, with the firm noting concern over a slower-than-expected rebound in Alibaba’s cloud segment.

Read the full list here.

— Brian Evans

The discussions involved bundling Paramount+ with Apple TV+, the report said, and could see the companies ultimately offer the package at a discount which would amount to less than an individual subscription to each service.

The move comes as streaming service providers continually increase prices in order to streamline profitability amid a more competitive landscape.

— Brian Evans

Shares of Disney were up nearly 0.4% before the bell on Friday, a day after the entertainment conglomerate announced it would reinstate its stock dividend at 30 cents a share. The company plans to record this dividend on December 11, payable January 10, 2024.

“This has been a year of important progress for The Walt Disney Company, defined by a strategic restructuring and a renewed focus on long-term growth,” said Mark Parker, Chairman of the Board. “As Disney moves forward with its key strategic objectives, we are pleased to declare a dividend for our shareholders while we continue to invest in the company’s future and prioritize meaningful value creation.”

The announcement comes after Disney announced in February that it planned to reinstate its dividend by the end of the calendar year. The company had earlier paused its dividend payment in November 2020 due to the onset of the pandemic.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks Friday in what will be a closely watched speech as markets look for clues about the future of monetary policy.

The U.S. central bank leader will deliver remarks during an event at Spelman College in Atlanta starting at 11 a.m. ET. That will be followed by a fireside chat with a moderator, then a roundtable at 2 p.m. to discuss tech innovation and entrepreneurship with local leaders.

Following a series of economic reports showing that inflation is decelerating, markets expect that the Fed is done raising interest rates and in fact likely will start cutting next year.

—Jeff Cox