Morning Movers: Confluent surges following deal to be bought by IBM

Stock futures are slightly higher this morning as markets brace for the Federal Reserve’s rate-decision later this week. The core of sentiment seems driven by widespread expectations that the Fed will deliver a 25 basis-point cut, though there still remains unease under the surface. The challenge facing the Fed given uncertainty over what constitutes a “neutral” interest rate could make this week’s meeting contentious.

Meanwhile, a soft U.S. dollar is supporting gold, which in turn reinforces the broader risk-on tone across both equities and commodities.

In pre-market trading, S&P 500 futures rose 0.15%, Nasdaq futures rose 0.30% and Dow futures rose 0.04%.

Check out this morning’s top movers from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly. 

HIGHER –

• Kymera Therapeutics (KYMR) up 35% after reporting clinical results from the BroADen Phase 1b atopic dermatitis clinical trial of KT-621
• Confluent (CFLT) up 29% after entering into a definitive agreement under which IBM (IBM) will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of the company for $31 per share
• Broadcom (AVGO) up 3% after The Information reported Microsoft (MSFT) is in talks to design custom chips with Broadcom, switching its business from Marvell (MRVL)

LOWER –

• Marvell (MRVL) down 7% after the report that Microsoft (MSFT) is in talks to design custom chips with Broadcom, switching its business from the company
• CoreWeave (CRWV) down 4% after $2B convertible debt offering
• Agios Pharmaceuticals (AGIO) down 2% after announcing that the FDA has not yet issued a regulatory decision on the supplemental new drug application for mitapivat for the treatment of adult patients with non-transfusion-dependent and transfusion-dependent alpha- or beta-thalassemia and that the sNDA remains under active review
• Tesla (TSLA) down 1% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $425, up from $410, as a new analyst took over coverage
• ITT (ITT) down 1% after 7M share common stock offering