Shares of Take-Two Interactive Software _ were in focus after it said it would acquire Zynga _ in a deal with enterprise value of $12.7 billion. The company intends to pay $3.50 in cash and $6.36 in Take-Two shares for each share of Zynga. Take-Two shares closed down by 13%, while Zynga shares finished 41% higher.
Popular meme stock GameStop Corp .’s shares _ closed down by 6.7% after outperforming some of its competitors on Friday.
Visa Inc. _ shares finished 2.3% lower after Mizuho analyst Dan Dolev downgraded the company’s shares to neutral from buy on Friday. Dolev said that COVID-19 has sped up the move away from cash, but “dramatically and likely permanently shortened the cash-to-card conversion runway” — giving Visa possibly fewer opportunities for revenue growth going forward.
Nike Inc. _ shares closed 4.2% lower after The Fly reported that HSBC analyst Erwan Rambourg downgraded his rating on the stock to hold from buy, and trimmed the stock’s price target to $182.
The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP closed 1.5% lower, while London’s FTSE 100 UKX retreated by 0.5%.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 provisionally closed down by 1.3%, having started the trading session up by 0.3%. Tech stocks fell 3.2% to lead losses while banks, which would benefit from higher interest rates, rose 0.4%.
*On the data front in Europe on Monday, euro zone unemployment fell to 7.2% in November from 7.3% in October, while the Sentix index showed euro zone investor morale has risen in January from 13.5 to 14.9, ahead of analyst expectations.*
The Shanghai Composite SHCOMP finished 0.4% higher, while the Hang Seng Index HSI closed up by 1.1%, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 NIK was closed for a holiday.
Bitcoin BTCUSD was trading down 1.4% at about $41,765.
*Heavy rainfall in southeastern Brazil has prompted miners including Vale SA (VALE3.SA) to suspend some operations, they said on Monday, after downpours caused deadly floods in the northeast and threatened to delay harvests in the midwest. Rainfall is expected to remain heavy this week in most of top mining state Minas Gerais, after runoff closed roads and railways.*
*The dollar edged higher against a basket of currencies on Monday as recent employment data prompted some Wall Street banks to raise their estimates for how quickly the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this year.*
Oil prices fell Monday as concerns about demand fears stoked by the rapid global rise in Omicron coronavirus infections overtook concerns about oil supply reduction from Kazakhstan.
Concerns about the Omicron variant of the coronavirus bled into the oil market, pushing prices lower. Last week, oil prices gained 5% after protests in Kazakhstan disrupted train lines and hit production at the country's Tengiz oilfield while pipeline maintenance in Libya lowered production to 729,000 barrels per day (bpd) from a high of 1.3 million bpd last year.
Kazakhstan's largest oil venture Tengizchevroil (TCO) is gradually increasing production to reach normal rates at the Tengiz field after protests limited output there in recent days, operator Chevron (CVX.N) said on Sunday. read more
Libyan production ticked up on Monday, and concerns about rising Libyan output overtook the market.
*Here are some key events this week:*
-Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s confirmation hearing in the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday.
-Kansas City Fed President Esther George and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard speak on Tuesday.
-EIA crude oil inventory report on Wednesday. China PPI, CPI on Wednesday.
-U.S. CPI, Fed Beige Book on Wednesday.
-U.S. initial jobless claims, PPI on Thursday.
-U.S. Senate Banking Committee hearing for Lael Brainard, nominated as Fed vice-chair on Thursday.
-Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin, Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker, Chicago Fed President Charles -Evans speak on Thursday.
By: via @AlliesFin Serve Stock Market
