U.S. Stocks closed moderately higher today after the most recent FOMC meeting minutes were released, showing a disparity of views among Fed officials. There was some surprise expressed at the degree of hawkishness at first, but traders soon realized that there were still enough dovish positions within the group for the Fed to leave rates unchanged for awhile longer.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.15%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were stronger, up 0.27% and 0.83%, respectively. Most sectors were higher, with telecommunications and healthcare at the top of the list.
A number of joint ventures and acquisitions continued to move Wall Street stocks higher, driving Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA), Mylan NV (NASDAQ:MYL) and Regulus Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:RGLS) to the ranks of Wednesday’s best stocks.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA)
BABA stock traded nearly 4% higher today after announcing it will try to shore up their affiliate, Hong Kong-based Alibaba Pictures Group Ltd, by injecting liquidity from BABA’s entertainment-related business into the pictures group.
Alibaba Pictures Group, formerly called ChinaVision Media, was purchased and renamed by Alibaba in 2014. However, since being acquired by BABA, the once-profitable company has seen its business profits take a turn for the worse. In fact, Alibaba Pictures Group lost $53.5 million in 2014.
BABA, an October 2014 IPO, has fallen from $120 in November to a low of $80 in recent weeks.
Mylan NV (MYL)
Mylan stock soared more than 14% higher after the company publicly made its intention known to purchase Perrigo Company plc Ordinary Shares (NYSE:PRGO), a manufacturer of over-the-counter medications, for $28.9 billion. The deal is a combination of cash and the purchase of PRGO stock with a price of $205 per share.
While no formal agreement has yet been reached, PRGO said that its board would meet to consider the offer and make an announcement “when appropriate.” The proposal was delivered to PRGO on Monday of this week.
MYL stock has been in a solid uptrend since last October, climbing nearly 50% in that time.
Regulus Therapeutics Inc (RGLS)
RGLS stock blasted over 12% higher after AstraZeneca plc (ADR) (NYSE:AZN) chose RG-125 (AZD4076), a drug for treating nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) fatty liver disease, for human clinical trials in a collaborative venture with RGLS. Under the terms of the agreement, AZN will pay RGLS $2.5 million, and will continue to develop and market the product in the future.
NASH is a condition found in patients with type II diabetes or pre-diabetes. RG-125 is the first of three drugs that AstraZeneca will begin testing, on the basis of an agreement made with Regulus in 2012. NASH is estimated to affect 2%-5% of all Americans.
As of this writing, Ethan Roberts did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
