Wall Street stock indexes opened with mild losses after the S&P 500 hit a record close on the heels of inflation figures that were the highest in decades. Here’s what we’re watching in Monday’s trading:

• Arena Pharmaceuticals shares rocketed higher on reports that it was to be acquired by Pfizer for $100 a share. Pfizer’s own shares ticked up after an Israeli study said its booster shots were effective against the Omicron variant. UBS lifted its rating of Pfizer’s stock to a buy and raised its price target.

• Novavax applied for emergency use for its Covid-19 vaccine in the United Arab Emirates. Fellow vaccine maker Moderna also gained.
• Harley-Davidson said its LiveWire electric-motorcycle arm would merge with AEA-Bridges Impact , a SPAC, to make LiveWire publicly traded. The deal gives LiveWire an enterprise value of about $1.77 billion.
• Peloton Interactive shares were clawing back some of Friday’s losses that came after the company’s bike became associated with the demise of a character in “And Just Like That,” a reboot of “Sex and the City.” But the stock dive also could have been coincidence, as Credit Suisse earlier that day cut its price target for Peloton to $50 from $112 on concerns of slowing growth.
• General Motors plans to invest more than $3 billion to make electric vehicles in Michigan, good news for the car maker’s home state after Southern states snared recent auto projects.
• Bluebird Bio said its study data showed a sustained clinical response to a treatment for sickle-cell anemia.
• Bellus Health said it had received positive results in a trial for a treatment of chronic cough.
• Eli Lilly said it would collaborate with Foghorn Therapeutics for novel oncology targets using Foghorn’s proprietary gene traffic control platform.
• Backblaze ,   Claros Mortgage Trust  and  PHX Minerals  are due to report earnings after the close.

Chart of the Day

• Lithium prices are rising at their fastest pace in years, setting off a race to secure supplies and fueling worries about long-term shortages of a vital ingredient in the rechargeable batteries that power everything from electric vehicles to smartphones.

Write to James Willhite at [email protected]

Source: https://www.wsj.com/articles/arena-pfizer-bluebird-bio-peloton-what-to-watch-when-the-stock-market-opens-today-11639396464