5 things to know before the stock market opens on the first trading day of 2020
1. Wall Street's 2019 rally set to continue in 2020
U.S. stock futures pointed to a strong start to the first trading session of 2020 as Wall Street carried its momentum from 2019. As of 7:50 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up more than 150 points, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures also indicated solid gains. Stocks had a banner year in 2019, with the S&P 500 rallying more than 28%. The Dow and Nasdaq jumped 22% and 35%, respectively, in 2019. To be sure, the New Year presents new challenges for investors as the 2020 U.S. presidential election looms.
2. China cuts key rate
The People's Bank of China announced on Wednesday it lowered the reserve requirement ratio for the country's banks by 50 basis points. This move is expected to inject 800 billion yuan in liquidity to the Chinese economy. The announcement lifted sentiment across global equities as Asian stock markets ended mostly higher overnight. In Europe, the French CAC 40 jumped 1.4% while the German Dax gained 0.9%.
3. Tesla shares jump on big price-target bump
Shares of the electric car maker jumped more than 1.6% in the premarket after an analyst at Canaccord Genuity hiked his price target to $515 per share from $375 per share. The new price target implies a 12-month upside of 23% from and is the highest among major Wall Street brokerages. "While bears have feared demand issues as a function of tax credit expiration for Tesla, we suspect a solid Q4 combined with the robust Q3 should put these fears to rest and put to rest this issue as the credit expires," the analyst said in a note. Tesla shares are coming off a strong 2019, rising 25.7% in that time.
4. Carlos Ghosn reportedly had a spare French passport while on bail
Japanese public broadcaster NHK said ousted Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn was allowed to carry a spare French passport while out on bail in Japan. The news shed some light on how Ghosn managed to escape Japan. Earlier this week, Ghosn said he left Japan to escape a rigged Japanese justice system where guilt is presumed." Ghosn was arrested in Tokyo in late 2018 on charges of hiding income and enriching himself.
5. Bernie Sanders raises more than $34 million in the fourth quarter
Sen. Bernie Sanders' campaign said the presidential hopeful ended the fourth quarter with $34.5 million in fundraising after hauling in more than $18 million in December. That haul easily tops that of former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, which took in $24.7 million in the fourth quarter, but it still trails the $46 million raised by President Donald Trump.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated Canaccord's previous price target on Tesla.