Biggest stock movers today: Gracell Biotechnologies, MBIA and more

U.S. stock futures saw a modest rise on Tuesday, kicking off the holiday-shortened week. The prevailing expectation is for the major averages to continue their winning streak until the year’s end. This sentiment is fueled by growing indications of easing U.S. inflation, reinforcing beliefs that the Federal Reserve will initiate interest rate cuts in the coming year.

Key Stock Movements on Tuesday:

Top Gainers:

• Gracell Biotechnologies (NASDAQ:GRCL) soared over 65% after AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) announced a definitive agreement to acquire the company for $1.2 billion, expanding AZN’s presence in the cell therapies sector.
• Stratasys (NASDAQ:SSYS) experienced a 10.6% surge following a bid by Nano Dimension (NNDM) to acquire the 3D printer maker at $16.50 per share, representing a 26% premium over Stratasys’s Friday closing price.

Top Loser:

• MBIA (NYSE:MBI) witnessed a more than 58% decline in Tuesday morning trading. The sharp drop followed a downgrade by Wall Street analyst Harry Fong from Roth MKM, who shifted the stock to Neutral from Buy and assigned a $15.00 price target. Fong expressed concerns about recent financial moves by MBIA and uncertainties surrounding its future capital distributions.