Stocks Pop in After-Hours as Traders Eye Oil and Inflation

Stocks finished mixed on Monday with the S&P 500 failing to make a run for a new record and closing slightly in the red. The index is already up about 12% year-to-date, but investors are feeling a bit skittish about inflation.

The Nasdaq and the Dow Jones Industrial Average both finished the day up fractionally, while oil is back on investors’ radar to reclaim the USD 100 level in the medium-term. Meme stocks continue to rule the roost. Let’s take a look at some of today’s market action.

Movers & Shakers

• Movie chain AMC Entertainment tops today’s most actively trading stock, with 344.5 million shares changing hands. Most of that was buying activity, with the stock advancing nearly 15% to USD 55. Retail investors were calling hedge funds’ bluff for naked short selling activity in meme stocks.
• The second most actively traded stock today was fellow internet meme name BlackBerry. With trading volume of 193 million, trading in this nostalgic stock outpaced activity in fellow tech names Apple, Nokia and AMD.
• Clover Health made the most active list with 112 million shares exchanged today. Clover is also one of the most heavily shorted names and the meme-stock crowd drove the stock higher by an eye-popping 32% today.

Here are the stocks to watch in after-hours trading:

• Shares of StitchFix are up 15% in after-hours trading after the company handily beat Q3 estimates. The company, which sells clothes online and gives wardrobe advice, reported a loss of USD 0.18 per share compared to Wall Street estimates for a steeper 0.27 per-share loss. Revenue came in at USD 536 million and the number of users rose 20% to more than 4 million.
• Marvell Tech shares also moved higher in the after market, tacking on almost 5% on the heels of better-than-expected Q1 results. The company also has a bullish outlook for the current quarter.
• Coupa Software shares were taking it on the chin in extended-hours trading, falling by more than 8%. Investors punished the stock due to a revenue forecast that cuts it too close to Wall Street’s expectations.

What to Expect

All eyes are on inflation with May’s Consumer Price Index data set to be released on Thursday. In the prior month, the CPI inched higher by 4.2%, which was reminiscent of a trend in the recession year of 2008. Any hint of inflation rising too far too fast could force the Fed to move its hand away from its dovish stance.

Crude oil is another major theme, as investors have turned bullish on the commodity once again. Traders are reportedly buying call options for Brent and WTI oil with a USD 100 target by year-end 2022. Oil hasn’t seen that level in seven years.