Traders await FOMC meeting
U.S. stock futures were slightly higher early Tuesday ahead of the start of the Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting.
The two-day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting will kick off later in the day, when the central bank will decide whether to begin tapering its $120 billion monthly bond-buying program before the decision is announced Wednesday.
Several top Fed policymakers have recently cracked the door more widely open for conversations about slowly pulling back on that program, as U.S. consumer prices continue to surge, with 5% year-over-year gains in May revealed in last week’s inflation report.
By 5:20 a.m. ET, futures linked to the blue-chip Dow were marked 21 points, or 0.06% to 34,296. S&P 500 futures jumped 4.87 points, or 0.11% to 4,250.62 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures rose 16.75 points, or 0.12% to 14,134.
Biodesix soars 5% after launching SARS CoV-2 Neutralization Antibody Test
Biodesix (NASDAQ: BDSX) edged up in Tuesday’s premarket trading session after the company announced it has launched its SARS CoV-2 Neutralization Antibody Test.
In a press release, Biodesix said the test uses ELISA technology to detect circulating neutralizing antibodies against the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 virus).
It is the first and only surrogate neutralizing antibody test with FDA Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). As of writing, Biodesix stock was up 92 cents, or 5.92% to $17 per share.
Ampio Pharma rockets after getting approval to expand its Covid-19-related treatment to India
Shares of Ampio Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: AMPE) are rocketing after the company announced this morning that it has won regulatory approval to expand enrollment of its Phase II study to India for the inhalation of its AP-019 drug to treat respiratory distress due to Covid-19.
Ampio CEO Michael Macaluso said the company expects this expansion to shorten the timeline for overall study enrollment.
In addition, the company disclosed that it has a made a strategic decision to end the AP-019 study efforts in Israel because of the ongoing political unrest in the country combined with a decrease in coronavirus cases.
Ampio stock climbed 20 cents, or 11.11% to $2.00 a share before Tuesday’s opening bell.
MicroStrategy raises $500 million in bonds to buy bitcoin
MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) has completed an offer of $500 million in secured notes at an annual interest rate of 6.125% which it will use to buy up to $488 million in bitcoin.
In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, the company said the notes were sold in a private offering to qualified institutional buyers.
As of mid-May, Virginia-based MicroStrategy owned more than 92,000 bitcoins according to company filings.
Bitcoin, the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency, was changing hands at $40,007 early Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, shares of MicroStrategy rose 1.09% to $605.00 each in the pre-market trading session.
