Wall Street was up in premarket trading on Friday with all the main indexes well in the green, fueled by a December jobs report that showed an improvement in the labor market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose to more than 25,100 points –an all-time high- with tech stocks rallying.
Shares of TiGenix NV (TIG, Financial) jumped nearly 70% on news Takeda Pharmaceutical (TSE:4502) will acquire the company for 520 million euros ($626.3 million) in cash, or 1.78 euros per ordinary share. The takeover will give Takeda control of Cx601 (darvadstrocel), a stem cell therapy used to treat Crohn's disease. The agreement will also expand Takeda's late-stage gastroenterology pipeline while strengthening its presence in the U.S. specialty care market.
Gainers
- Xilinx Inc. (XLNX, Financial)
- Electronic Arts Inc. (EA, Financial)
- eBay Inc. (EBAY, Financial)
- Boeing Co. (BA, Financial)
- Hess Corp. (HES, Financial)
Losers
- Johnson Controls International PLC (JCI, Financial)
- Wyndham Worldwide Corp. (WYN, Financial)
- Ulta Beauty Inc. (ULTA, Financial)
- Illumina Inc. (ILMN, Financial)
- Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK, Financial)
Global markets
The main European stock markets traded higher for the third consecutive day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 0.37%, France's CAC 40 climbed 1.05%, Germany's Dax jumped 1.15% and Spain's Ibex 35 gained 0.94%.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.89%, India’s BSE Sensex inched up 0.54%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.25% and China's SSE Composite gained 0.18%.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
