There were plenty of deals getting wrapped up just before the Christmas holiday as stock markets were mixed heading into the shortened trading period.
Softer consumer confidence in the US weighed on retail stocks, tipping the Dow Jones Industrial Average lower as it dipped 0.1% while tech stocks underpinned a 0.7% gain for the Nasdaq.
Eli Lilly gained after the US Food and Drug Administration approved its weight-loss drug Zepbound to use for sleep apnoea. Device maker ResMed – a rival to Fisher & Paykel Healthcare – fell 3.9% in afternoon trading.
Stocks in the UK rose with pharma and biotech shares leading the gains after AstraZeneca advanced on European Union approval for a lung cancer drug, while Germany’s DAX 40 slipped with Volkswagen shedding 1.3% as investors digested the automaker’s deal with unions to avoid immediate plant closures and layoffs.
Christmas is coming
Dealmakers were getting their orders in before the Christmas break, with Nordstrom’s founding family and Mexican retailer Liverpool taking the department chain private in a near-US$4 billion dollar.
In other Christmas deals, Xerox will buy printer maker Lexmark International for US$1.5 billion, including debt, Tencent shareholder Prosus plans to buy Latin American online travel agency Despegar for US$1.7 billion, BNP Paribas signed a €5.1 billion deal for AXA Investment Managers and insurer Aviva agreed to buy smaller rival Direct Line for £3.7 billion in a cash and scrip deal.
And FedEx decided to spin out its freight trucking division in an attempt to unlock value that some shareholders say has been lost inside the delivery group. Mainfreight’s Americas division has been expanding its network and expects its US development to take time.
The kiwi dollar rose to 45.10 British pence at 7am in Auckland from 44.94 pence yesterday after the UK’s economy flatlined in the September quarter and growth in earlier periods was revised lower. The kiwi traded at 56.48 US cents from 56.52 cents yesterday.
Locally, the trading session will close at 1pm for the Christmas holiday. ASX futures are pointing at a small decline across the Tasman.
Reporting by Paul McBeth. Image from Amina Atar on Unsplash.