What Will the Stock Market Do Today? 3 Big Stories to Watch.

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Good morning and welcome to the stock market today! Investors have a lot to digest after a long weekend, and the market is not slowing down. With big news swirling and a run-up in smaller cryptocurrencies gaining fuel, what do you need to know now? And what will the stock market do today?

Street sign for Wall Street pictured in front of several American flags representing american stocks

Source: Shutterstock

To start, GameStop (NYSE:GME) is stumbling after the r/WallStreetBets fave finally acted on talk of a secondary offering. The company said it would issue as much as $1 billion in new shares, sending GME stock down as much as 15% in pre-market trading. Palantir (NYSE:PLTR) is gaining on a new contract, and Nano-X (NASDAQ:NNOX) is up on news of U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance.

So what else will the stock market do today? Here are the top three stories.

What Will the Stock Market Do Today? All Eyes Are on Tech.

Big Tech is kicking off the week with some big stumbles.

Over the weekend, security researcher Alon Gal announced that personal data from 533 million Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) users was now available online for free. This data includes information on 32 million Facebook users from the United States, and includes things like phone numbers, full names, birthdates and email addresses. Investors may recall that previously, information from these 533 million users was available for purchase through a Telegram bot. However, as Jay Peters wrote for The Verge, the leaked information is now freely available. Facebook said that it was already aware of this leaked data, which it says resulted from a vulnerability in 2019. The company said it has since found and fixed the issue.

Gal calls this “absolute negligence of [user] data.”

So where do things stand? Facebook shares are certainly in the spotlight, but are down just slightly on Monday morning. Facebook users can check to see if their email addresses were leaked here, and the same service may later become available for leaked phone numbers.

Importantly, Facebook is not alone in the hot seat. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) kicked off the weekend by backtracking on its controversial tweets, and now is watching Alabama closely. There, counters are tallying a vote in Bessemer, where warehouse workers are deciding whether to unionize. As experts have been quick to highlight, this could spark a chain reaction across the country.

Brian Kemp Wants a Fight in Georgia

Last week, Delta (NYSE:DAL) CEO Ed Bastian and Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) CEO James Quincey spoke out against a new elections bill passed in Georgia. The legislation, backed by Republican lawmakers, restricts provisional ballots, makes it illegal to pass out food or water in voting lines, and limits ballot drop boxes in the state. Voting rights groups have condemned the bill, highlighting its disproportionate impact on Black voters in Georgia.

Bastian and Quincey, facing boycotts of their Georgia-based companies, have called criticized the legislation. In a more recent statement, Quincey called on Congress to take action, and said Coca-Cola would focus on supporting federal legislation that protects voting access. These statements also come after more than 70 Black executives called on corporate America to take a stand.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and other Republicans in the state are not backing down. In fact, Kemp has promised a fight, also in response to news that the MLB would relocate its All-Star Game.

So where do things stand now? Americans are watching Georgia closely, and Delta and Coca-Cola will continue to be in the spotlight. Pressure from Kemp could pressure companies to do more to make their resolve known.

Is Gold Losing Its Luster?

On Friday, investors learned that non-farm payrolls increased by 916,000 from February. That report from the Labor Department was much better than expected, and it indicated that economic recovery is chugging right along.

For gold, that may be a bad sign.

As Ranjeetha Pakiam wrote for Bloomberg, gold is falling, likely a result of the jobs report and the ongoing Covid-19 vaccine rollout. Many investors see the precious metal as a safe-haven asset, they turn to it as a store of value when times are tough. Historically, as the economy strengthens, gold prices fall. Reopening catalysts, a stock market near all-time highs and improving economic indicators all align with these falling prices. Exchange-traded funds are following suit, trimming their bullish bets on gold.

For investors, there are two things to watch. The first is the threat of a fourth wave of Covid-19. Although experts have said another rise in infections in the United States will be less deadly, its weight on reopening is something to watch. The second thing to watch is copper. Unlike gold, copper is having a good day, gaining on news Chile will close its borders for the month of April.

On the date of publication, Sarah Smith did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. 

Sarah Smith is a Web Content Producer with InvestorPlace.com. 


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2021/04/what-will-the-stock-market-do-today-3-big-stories-to-watch-nnox-stock-gme-stock-gold-falling/.

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