Russia Launches Rare Overnight Drone Attacks In Kyiv

Russian forces carried out rare overnight drone attacks in Ukrainian capital Kyiv, injuring two and damaging a critical infrastructure facility.

A Ukrainian military commander accused Russia of using Iranian-made Shahed attack drones Monday morning. Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, claimed that Ukrainian forces shot down most of them.

Solomyanskyi district and Shevchenkivskyi district were the most-affected in Monday’s attacks, causing blackout across the region.

The latest round of Russian attack comes three days after four people were killed in widespread missile and drone attacks launched across Ukraine.

Russia has intensified attacks since October, targeting Ukraine’s energy system and civilian infrastructure, causing power outages in the freezing winter.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin is to meet his close ally Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk Monday.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky had warned that Russia could be planning a Belarus-based major attack in January.

In his nightly address on Sunday, Zelensky said power has been restored to 9 million people who were left in darkness after Russian forces targeted several Ukrainina cities with dozens of missiles Friday.

The country’s nine power generation facilities were damaged in the attacks.

Russia Launches Deadly Missile Strikes Across Ukraine

Three people were reported killed in widespread missile and drone attacks that Russia launched across Ukraine Friday morning.

Reports quoting Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yurii Inhat said Russian forces fired 60 missiles within the space of a few hours. Their targets included capital Kyiv, Odesa, Kherson, Poltava, Zhytmoyr, Kharkiv, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia.

Tu95 strategic bombers were used for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.

“For the first time, the occupiers used Tu95 strategic bombers from the area where those aircraft are located, from the Engels area. In addition, there were launches from the north of the Caspian Sea,” Inhat said.

Two people were killed when the strikes hit a residential building in Kryvyi Rih, the largest city in central Ukraine.

A third casualty was reported in Kherson.

The country’s nine power generation facilities were damaged in the attacks, according to Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko.

Ihor Terekhov, the mayor of Kharkiv said the city is in blackout. There was “no electricity, no heating and no water.”

Kyiv city officials claimed its air defense systems shot down dozens of missiles aimed at the city.

Russia has intensified attacks since October, targeting Ukraine’s energy system and civilian infrastructure, causing power outages in the freezing winter.

Pre-market Movers: MDGL, VKTX, IPHA, LANV, GOSS…

The following are some of the stocks making big moves in Monday’s pre-market trading (as of 07.50 A.M. ET).

In the Green

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (MDGL) is up over 212% at $199.34
Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (VKTX) is up over 67% at $6.75
Innate Pharma S.A. (IPHA) is up over 34% at $2.55
Bit Brother Limited (BTB) is up over 11% at $8.73
Navios Maritime Partners L.P. (NMM) is up over 10% at $26.85
Viveon Health Acquisition Corp. (VHAQ) is up over 9% at $10.37
Evolent Health, Inc. (EVH) is up over 8% at $29.87
Gaotu Techedu Inc. (GOTU) is up over 6% at $3.33

In the Red

Lanvin Group Holdings Limited (LANV) is down over 33% at $6.65
Gossamer Bio, Inc. (GOSS) is down over 14% at $2.34
MasterBrand, Inc. (MBC) is down over 10% at $8.29
Ambrx Biopharma Inc. (AMAM) is down over 10% at $2.11
Clearfield, Inc. (CLFD) is down over 7% at $91.32
Kronos Worldwide, Inc. (KRO) is down over 7% at $8.71
PLDT Inc. (PHI) is down over 6% at $25.00

Security guard dies after she was crushed while working at Brixton Academy

A second woman has died after a crush caused by people trying to get into a concert at Brixton Academy in London.

Gabrielle Hutchinson, aged 23, died in hospital in the early hours of this morning.

She was working as one of the contracted security providers for the event that evening.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Surges 60%

Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (VKTX) are surging nearly 60% on Monday morning driven by the news that Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s (MDGL) late-stage trial of resmetirom, a liver-directed selective thyroid hormone receptor agonist, saw positive topline results.

VKTX is currently trading at $6.38, up $2.36 or 58.69%, on the Nasdaq, on a volume of 28 million shares, above average volume of 785 thousand. The stock opened its trading at $5.45 after closing Friday’s trading at $4.02. The stock has traded between $2.02 and $6.77 in the past 52-week period.

In Madrigal’s trial, resmetirom achieved both primary endpoints and potentially clinically meaningful effects with both daily oral doses, 80 mg and 100 mg.

Viking’s NASH offering, known as VK2809, belongs to the same class of medications as resmetirom. VK2809 is currently being evaluated in a Phase IIb study in biopsy-confirmed NASH patients.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Slips 14%

Shares of Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (AKRO) are slipping nearly 14% on Monday morning despite no stock-related statement from the company.

AKRO is currently trading at $40.49, down $6.46 or 13.76%, on the Nasdaq. The stock opened its trading at $44.07 after closing Friday’s trading at $46.95. The stock has traded between $7.52 and $48.38 in the past 52-week period.

Akero Therapeutics is a cardio-metabolic nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) company that engages in the development of medicines designed to restore metabolic balance and improve overall health.