Markets were mixed Thursday as investors closed out a shortened week. (Markets will be closed tomorrow in the U.S. for Good Friday.) The S&P was up 7 points to close at 5,282. The Nasdaq fell 20 points to close at 16,286, while the Dow closed down 527 points at 39,142.
The Dow was set for historic divergence from the S&P 500 after a plunge by the top-weighted stock in the index, UnitedHealth Group, which missed earnings estimates and, by mid-afternoon, was down 22%. “Though the major indexes generally move together, today’s move is that rare occasion when a high-priced stock in the Dow Industrials makes an outsized move that creates a divergence,” Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading told Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, President Trump sparred with Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, writing in a post early Thursday that, “Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!” As Fortune wrote, “Today’s early-morning barrage came after Powell had given a public speech at the Economic Club of Chicago on Wednesday. Trump rehashed his yearslong belief that Powell should lower interest rates more quickly. “‘Too Late’ Jerome Powell of the Fed, who is always TOO LATE AND WRONG, yesterday issued a report which was another, and typical, complete ‘mess!’” Trump wrote.”
- Netflix traded traded up about 1.5% today as investors awaited the company’s Q2 earnings, which they were set to announce right after the closing bell.
- Hertz was trading up a little more than $2 or 38% by mid-afternoon on news that Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management had taken a 4% stake in the rental car company following its 2020 bankruptcy.
- Eli Lilly was up about 16% by mid-afternoon after releasing promising news about its oral diabetes and weight loss drug which would compete with popular GLP-1 injections.
- It’s been a dud of a year for deals, but FIS soared nearly 10% on news that it was selling WorldPay to Global Payments in a complicated three-way deal worth $24 billion. As Fortune‘s Luisa Beltran reported, the deal is a huge win for Stephanie Ferris, considered the most powerful woman in fintech. Beltran wrote: “The sale of Worldpay is a ‘home run’ for Ferris and FIS, said Dan Dolev, a senior analyst in fintech equity research at Mizuho Securities USA. ‘It’s a masterstroke of dealmaking. [Ferris is] the art of the deal. It’s not Trump, it’s Stephanie. She should negotiate with China,’ Dolev said.”
