Major stock market indices in the United States closed Monday’s session with sharp gains with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising over 640 points despite the concerns over the spread of the coronavirus’ Omicron variant.
The Nasdaq 100 ended the session 0.85% in the green, with Baidu jumping 7.47%. At market close, the S&P 500 gained 1.18% with Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings rising 9.51%.
BuzzFeed Nasdaq Debut
BuzzFeed had a mixed debut on Nasdaq, initially rising as high as 16% only to finish the session deep into the red. The company announced plans to go public via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) dubbed 890 5th Avenue Partners Inc.
Alibaba CFO change
Shares of Alibaba Group in the United States traded higher on Monday after the company announced that Chief Financial Officer Maggie Wu will be succeeded by current Deputy CFO Toby Xu on April 1, 2022. Once the change takes effect, Wu will become an executive director on the company board. Xu joined Alibaba three and a half years ago and was named deputy CFO a year later. Previously, he spent over a decade as a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
SEC, FINRA probe Trump-linked SPAC
Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) which planned to merge with former United States President Donald Trump’s media company, said on Monday it has received requests for information from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the country’s Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
In a regulatory filing, the SPAC explained that the watchdogs asked for information regarding the trading and communications with Trump’s firm before the merger deal was finalized.
Trump recently claimed that his company, named The Trump Media & Technology Group, has raised about $1 billion as a part of its plan to go public.
NYSE leadership changes
Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (ICE), the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, said on Monday that NYSE President Stacey Cunningham will leave the post and join the Board of Directors of the exchange.
Cunningham will be succeeded by ICE Fixed Income and Data Services President Lynn Martin as NYSE president.
At the same time, it was revealed that ICE and NYSE Board member and former United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Commissioner Sharon Bowen will become the next chair of the NYSE.
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