Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Li Auto Sales Top Views

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded up 0.22% to 34,977.01 while the NASDAQ climbed 1.53% to 15,727.94. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.92% to 4,637.03.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 49,099,590 cases with around 799,410 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 34,580,830 cases and 468,790 deaths, while Brazil reported over 22,080,900 COVID-19 cases with 614,310 deaths. In total, there were at least 261,877,540 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 5,219,770 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer discretionary shares gained by 1.8% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Adagio Therapeutics, Inc. ADGI, up 31% and Moderna, Inc. MRNA up 26%.

In trading on Monday, financials shares fell 0.1%.

Top Headline

Li Auto Inc. LI reported better-than-expected third-quarter financial results.

Li Auto reported third-quarter diluted earnings per ADS of 5 cents, which beat the estimate of a loss of 2 cents, and sales results of $1.21 billion, which beat the $1.16 billion estimate.

The company also reported deliveries of Li ONEs were 25,116 vehicles in the third quarter of 2021, representing a 190% year-over-year increase.

Equities Trading UP

Krystal Biotech, Inc. KRYS shares shot up 136% to $94.00 after the company announced positive topline results from the GEM-3 Phase 3 trial of investigational beremagene geperpavec (B-VEC, Vyjuvek) for dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa (dystrophic EB).

Shares of Adagio Therapeutics, Inc. ADGI got a boost, shooting 89% to $47.60 after the company said its COVID-19 monoclonal antibody, ADG20, is likely to retain activity against Omicron, as observed in in vitro models with all other variants of concern identified previously. Morgan Stanley upgraded Adagio Therapeutics from Equal-Weight to Overweight and announced a $49 price target.

Petros Pharmaceuticals, Inc. PTPI shares were also up, gaining 87% to $3.91 on abnormal volume despite no apparent news catalyst.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Fennec Pharmaceuticals Inc. FENC shares tumbled 48% to $4.97 after the company said it expects to receive a Complete Response Letter (CRL) from the FDA regarding its marketing application for Pedmark. The FDA indicated that, following a recent inspection of the manufacturing facility of the drug product manufacturer, deficiencies have been identified.

Shares of Allied Healthcare Products, Inc. AHPI were down 23% to $6.44 after jumping around 55% on Friday.

Biofrontera Inc. BFRI was down, falling 17% to $6.59. Biofrontera priced its 2,857,143 private placement at $5.25 per share.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 4.6% to $71.30, while gold traded up 0.6% to $1,796.10.

Silver traded up 0.9% Monday to $23.31 while copper rose 1.7% to $4.3570.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.6%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.7% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.3%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.7%, French CAC 40 gained 0.7% and Italy’s FTSE MIB climbed 0.5%.

Spain's annual inflation rate increased to 5.6% in November from 5.4% in the prior month. Producer prices in Italy jumped 20.4% year-over-year in October. Consumer credit in the UK rose by GBP 0.706 billion in October, while number of mortgage approvals for house purchase declined to 67.2 thousand in October.

Economics

The pending home sales index surged 7.5% for October, versus analysts’ expectations for a 0.9% growth.

The Dallas Fed manufacturing index for November will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams will speak at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Check out the full economic calendar here