The US stock markets closed mixed on Thursday’s trading session as the country’s labour department reported an increase in initial jobless claims. Investors kept an eye on the Airbnb IPO even as the country’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE’s vaccines against Covid-19.
The United Kingdom already began with vaccinations this week, while the United States is expected to quickly follow suit.
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Airbnb IPO
American vacation rental online marketplace company Airbnb began trading on the Nasdaq Exchange on Thursday at a price of $146 per share, surging 115% from its initial public offering (IPO) price of $68 per share.
Thursday’s opening price valued the company above $100 billion.
Ahead of the IPO, Airbnb announced that fell 19% to $1.9 billion last quarter with a net income of $219 million.
DoorDash IPO
American food delivery service DoorDash Inc. began its first trading session on Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange as shares rose significantly after debut.
The Softbank backed company priced its IPO at $102 per piece and after its shares soared by more than 80% to over $183.57 per share after debut.
According to Bloomberg, SoftBank Group Corp.’s shares closed Thursday’s trading session at a level last seen in 2000 after the value of its stake in DoorDash reached more than $11.9 billion.
Tesla completes sale of $5B common stock
American electric vehicle and clean energy company Tesla, Inc. announced on Thursday it had completed the sale of $5 billion of its common stock through its “at-the-market” offering program announced earlier this week.
The company said the final settlement of the shares sold will be completed by Friday.
Google & Amazon Fined in France Markets
French National Commission on Informatics and Liberty has fined Google LLC €60 million, Google Ireland Limited €40 million, and Amazon Europe Core S.a.r.l. €35 million for breaching the country’s Data Protection Act.
The French data privacy watchdog said charged the two companies for allegedly depositing cookies without obtaining the users’ consent, lack of information for users of search engines.
Brent crude futures
The price of crude benchmark Brent hit $50 per barrel on Thursday, its highest price since March driven by optimism around that the covid-19 vaccines will drive a faster recovery of demand for oil.
Brent for February settlements jumped 2.48% to $50.09 per barrel at 9:43 am ET. At the same time, West Texas Intermediate for January delivery climbed 2.46% to $46.64 per barrel.
