Gold Steadies Near Five-month High

Gold prices held steady on Monday after hitting a five-month high on the back of a weakening dollar.

Spot gold was marginally lower at $1,796.82 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures were little changed with a positive bias at $1,810.25.

The dollar index held close to a more than five-month low on improved risk sentiment after more Chinese cities relaxed some anti-COVID measures and testing mandates over the weekend.

China’s financial hub Shanghai removed testing requirements for public transportation and entry to public venues effective today.

Zhengzhou city, which home to the world’s largest iPhone factory, also ended testing requirements to use public transportation and enter other public venues.

A weaker dollar makes greenback-priced bullion less expensive for overseas buyers.

Meanwhile, despite the strong U.S. jobs report released on Friday, markets still expect the Federal Reserve to slow the pace of rate increases.

In economic releases, reports on Euro zone business activity, retail sales and investor sentiment proved to be a mixed bag.

U.S. factory orders for October and ISM non-manufacturing PMI for November, as well as Canada building permits for October will be released in the New York session.

Pre-market Movers: IOVA, DADA, SHPH, BILI, BVS…

The following are some of the stocks making big moves in Monday’s pre-market trading (as of 07.35 A.M. ET).

In the Green

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (IOVA) is up over 20% at $8.23
Dada Nexus Limited (DADA) is up over 19% at $8.19
Shuttle Pharmaceuticals Holdings, Inc. (SHPH) is up over 18% at $2.85
Bilibili Inc. (BILI) is up over 16% at $23.19
Bioventus Inc. (BVS) is up over 16% at $2.49
XPeng Inc. (XPEV) is up over 14% at $13.13
111, Inc. (YI) is up over 13% at $3.26
Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PEI) is up over 12% at $2.96
ATRenew Inc. (RERE) is up over 10% at $2.43
Lufax Holding Ltd (LU) is up over 10% at $2.16
iQIYI, Inc. (IQ) is up over 6% at $3.57

In the Red

Getnet Adquirencia (GET) is down over 9% at $2.09
The Cato Corporation (CATO) is down over 7% at $9.36
Performance Shipping Inc. (PSHG) is down over 7% at $4
Satixfy Communications Ltd. (SATX) is down over 6% at $20.16
LL Flooring Holdings, Inc. (LL) is down over 6% at $6.45
Tupperware Brands Corporation (TUP) is down over 5% at $4.41

UK New Car Sales Bounce Back On Electric Vehicle Demand

Car sales in the UK grew for a fourth month in a row in November, largely led by the rising demand for electric vehicles, figures from the automotive industry trade group the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, or SMMT, showed Monday.

New car registrations rose by 23.5 percent year-on-year to 142,889 units.

“The growth delivered the best total for November since 2019, with manufacturers continuing efforts to fulfill orders amid erratic global components supply,” SMMT said.

Yet, November registrations month were still 8.8 percent below the pre-Covid 2019 levels.

While further recovery is anticipated in 2023, global and domestic economic challenges mean that the market will remain below pre-pandemic levels, SMMT said.

As Britons try to reduce their carbon footprint, their demand for zero emission EVs continued to grow with plug-ins claiming over one in four or 27.7 percent of new car sales.

Sales of battery EVs grew 34.2 percent, which was equal to 20.5 percent of total new car sales. This was the biggest monthly share for the segment this year.

Plug-in hybrid registrations fell by 5.8 percent, totaling 7.1 percent of the market.

Dine Brands Global To Acquire Fuzzy’s Taco Shop – Quick Facts

Dine Brands Global, Inc. has agreed to acquire Fuzzy’s Taco Shop from Experiential Brands LLC, a subsidiary of NRD Holding Company, for $80 million in cash. The purchase price is approximately $70 million. The company expects the acquisition to be immediately accretive to earnings.

Fuzzy’s is a fast casual restaurant serving Mexican favorites with a splash of Baja. With 138 restaurants in 18 states, it is expected to generate approximately $230 million in systemwide sales in 2022. Fuzzy’s is led by Chief Executive Officer Paul Damico.

VERU INC. Q4 Loss increases, misses estimates

VERU INC. (VERU) revealed Loss for its fourth quarter that increased from last year and missed the Street estimates.

The company’s bottom line came in at -$41.022 million, or -$0.51 per share. This compares with -$4.294 million, or -$0.05 per share, in last year’s fourth quarter.

Analysts on average had expected the company to earn -$0.3 per share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

The company’s revenue for the quarter fell 83.5% to $2.588 million from $15.646 million last year.

VERU INC. earnings at a glance (GAAP) :

-Earnings (Q4): -$41.022 Mln. vs. -$4.294 Mln. last year.
-EPS (Q4): -$0.51 vs. -$0.05 last year.
-Analyst Estimate: -$0.3
-Revenue (Q4): $2.588 Mln vs. $15.646 Mln last year.

Kanzhun Stock Gains 5%

Shares of Kanzhun Limited (BZ) are gaining nearly 5% on Monday morning despite no stock-related news to drive the shares.

BZ is currently trading at $20.50, up $0.96 or 4.91%, on the Nasdaq. The stock opened its trading at $18.00 after closing Friday’s trading at $19.54. The stock has traded between $9.74 and $43.22 in the past 52-week period.

Kanzhun operates an online recruitment platform, BOSS Zhipin in China. Its recruitment platform assists the recruitment process between job seekers and employers for enterprises, and corporations. The company was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Beijing, China.