Futures points to a flat open
U.S. stocks looked poised for a muted open Friday after closing at fresh records in the previous session as the Federal Reserve pledged to continue supporting markets with bond purchases.
By 5:50 a.m. ET, futures tied to the blue-chip Dow were down 12 points to 30,190. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures fell 10.75 points to 12,740.25 while the those for the S&P 500 were little changed.
Today is quadruple witching day, so there will be some action as December options and futures contracts hit expiration.
Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine endorsed by FDA advisory panel
A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel on Thursday recommended that the regulator grant emergency use authorization for Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA)’s coronavirus vaccine.
Members of the panel voted 20-0, with an abstention, to recommend use of the vaccine for individuals 18 and older.
The authorization, expected later today, will mark the second coronavirus vaccine approved by the FDA after the regulator cleared a jab developed by Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and its German partner BioNTech (NASDAQ: BNTX).
Robinhood agrees to pay $65 million to settle SEC probe
Meanwhile, discount brokerage Robinhood Financial has agreed to pay $65 million to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges that it misled its clients about how it was paid by Wall Street firms for passing along client trades and that it had made money at the expense of its clients.
SEC officials accused the start-up of making “misleading statements and omissions” about how it made money with high-speed trading companies. The Silicon Valley company agreed to pay the fine without admitting or denying SEC’s findings.
The settlement came just one day after Massachusetts regulators sued the brokerage for allegedly marketing itself to traders “without regard for the best interest of its customers.”
Robinhood generates revenue by routing clients’ orders to high-speed traders that pay for the right to execute many of the trades in hopes of earning a profit.