The top stocks to watch today (Monday) are Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (Nasdaq: AMD), AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV), and Moneygram International Inc. (Nasdaq: MGI).
A June rate hike has become less likely. Currently, the World Interest Rate Probability data set a 47% chance that the Fed will raise rates in June. Last week, the probability for a June rate hike was 66.5%.
The likely cause for the reduced probability of a rate hike is the weak economic data that was released on Friday. Retail sales fell in March by 0.2% compared to a year ago. This is the second straight month retail sales have fallen.
On top of falling retail sales, U.S. consumer prices fell 0.3% in March. That's the first time consumer prices fell since February 2016.
Now that we know what's moving markets, here are the three top stocks to watch today...
Top Stocks to Watch Today: Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (Nasdaq: AMD)
Advanced Micro Devices stock is up 1.1% in early morning trading after Thursday's 3.5% drop.
The semiconductor company is up over 355% in the past year. The gain is due to investments in autonomous vehicles.
However, AMD stock has dropped over 15% so far in April amid concerns over future growth. The concerns stem from market saturation and shrinking margins in the industry overall.
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AMD stock is currently trading at $12.31 for a 1.3% gain so far this year.
Top Stocks to Watch Today: AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV)
AbbVie stock is up 1.8% in early morning trading due to the company filing a lawsuit against Amgen Inc. (Nasdaq: AMGN).
AbbVie brought the suit against Amgen saying its Amjevita infringes on patents for AbbVie's Humira. The suit claims that Amjevita is biosimilar to Humira, meaning that the biologic is close enough to the existing medication that there isn't a meaningful difference between the two drugs.
Humira is one of AbbVie's top-selling drugs, accounting for 63% of its revenue. If the suit is denied, the company may begin to lose market share and revenue. If it is determined that Amjevita is too similar to Humira, AbbVie may be able to maintain its market share in autoimmune disease treatments.
ABBV stock is trading at $64.13 for a gain of 2.4% year to date (YTD).
Top Stocks to Watch Today: Moneygram International Inc. (Nasdaq: MGI)
Moneygram stock is up 8% in early morning trading after Ant Financial increased its bid for the company.
The previous bid was $13.25 a share but was increased after Euronet Worldwide made a bid of $15.20 for Moneygram.
The new Ant Financial bid is $18 a share and values Moneygram at $1.2 billion.
MGI stock is currently trading at $16.51 for a gain of 39.8% YTD.
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