Before the bell: Pharma performs phenomenally

The markets had a strong day yesterday, and this morning buying is already brisk in Hong Kong.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 (+0.3%) and Nasdaq (+0.4%) closed higher once again. Both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones hit new records, while the Nasdaq now trades only 0.2% below its all-time high. Eli Lilly (+8.2%), Merck (+7.4%), Pfizer (+6.8%), and Amgen (+5.8%) shone amid a U.S.-European buying frenzy in pharma stocks. Nike (+6.4%) also impressed, as expected. In Europe, indices gained about 1%. The Bel20 once again did much better, jumping 1.8%. Argenx (+7.2%) and UCB (+4.6%) stole the show, while Financière de Tubize (+7.2%), the single holding company above UCB, also stood out. The “fear of missing out” in the pharma sector is unprecedented, but it shows what can happen when deep pessimism about import tariff uncertainty gives way to even greater optimism once investors realize such uncertainty can be offset by deals with the U.S. government. Among the laggards were bpost (-4.5%) and Floridienne (-4%), the latter reacting to disappointing results.

In Tokyo, the Topix (+0.1%) opened virtually unchanged. Hong Kong’s market, open today while mainland Chinese exchanges remain shut, is up 1.7%. Baidu (+6.1%), BYD (+2.7%), and Alibaba (+4.3%) are doing even better, while Tencent gained 2.4%—good news for major shareholder Prosus. The UK supermarket chain Tesco reports this morning, BASF is holding an investor day in Antwerp, and Sofina will tonight reveal how many shareholders subscribed to its capital increase. In Brussels, investors can react to Galapagos’s late-night update: the Belgian-Dutch biotech said it has received several non-binding offers from investors interested in acquiring its cancer research activities. Champagne house Vranken-Pommery announced it is selling the Heidsieck brand and will change its name to Maison Pommery & Associés as of January 1.

Roulez

Chinese automakers continue to perform strongly, though it is mostly the relatively smaller players now drawing attention. BYD sold 396,270 cars worldwide in September—up 6.1% from August but down 5.5% year-on-year. Analysts had expected only around 380,000 units. Li Auto delivered 33,951 vehicles, 19% more than in August but 36.8% fewer than a year earlier, and slightly below expectations (35,000). Nio delivered a double beat: 34,749 cars, up 11% month-on-month and 64.1% year-on-year, though just shy of the 35,000 analysts had forecast. Xiaomi reported—for the first time—sales of “over 40,000” cars in a month, without giving an exact figure. XPeng, which partners with Volkswagen, sold 41,581 cars, up 10.3% from August and 94.7% higher year-on-year, beating expectations (40,000). Tesla will report sales later today.

Not 50-50

Pfizer may bow to Trump, as many world leaders have, but in Asia they’re not giving in so easily. “Nie pleuje” (“we don’t give up”) was the reaction in Taiwan to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s proposal that 50% of chips should eventually be produced in the United States. Currently, 95% of semiconductors needed by U.S. companies are still made in Taiwan. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) may be building plants in Phoenix, Arizona, and Camas, Washington, and planning more facilities in the U.S., but it clearly doesn’t intend to shift production to the extent Washington desires. Earlier, President Trump accused Taiwan of having “stolen” the chip industry through its dominance. A cornered cat makes strange leaps: don’t be surprised if Trump soon unveils a plan for a massive U.S. joint venture of technology firms to produce chips at home. To be continued.

Did you know…

that Elon Musk is on the verge of becoming the world’s first half-trillionaire? Thanks to Tesla’s stock rally, Musk’s wealth rose by 10.5 billion dollar yesterday alone. His net worth is now estimated at 470 billion dollar. If he manages to push Tesla’s share price even higher, an additional mega-bonus could be triggered.

This article was translated from Dutch and was originally published on Spaarvarkens.be.