S&P 500 rises as Powell notes rising inflation, Tesla gains

Job openings increased at a faster-than-expected pace in May, while hiring also picked up, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey found that the number of job openings stood at 8.14 million, up 200,000 from April and above the Dow Jones forecast of 7.9 million. That puts the ratio of job openings to unemployed workers at 1.2 to 1.

Hirings increased to 5.76 million, up 141,000 from the previous month, while separations totaled 5.42 million, up 85,000. Resignations were virtually unchanged at 3.46 million.

—Jeff Cox

Nvidia shares fell about 1.9% Tuesday morning, extending the AI ​​darling’s recent decline. The stock is down more than 1.3% this week. It’s also trading more than 10% below its record high set last month.

Over the past month, shares are still up more than 11.2%.

Chewy shares fell 4% on Tuesday after plunging nearly 7% in the previous session. The trading volatility this week was partly triggered by a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing that showed meme stock trader “Roaring Kitty” took a 6.6% stake in the online pet food retailer.

Meanwhile, Chewy’s stock price has also been hurt by sales of shares by private equity firm BC Partners, its largest shareholder. Many believe that BC could take advantage of any rally in Chewy’s stock price to sell more of its stake, temporarily capping the stock price.

-Yun Li

Shares of Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk each fell 3% after President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders called on drugmakers to cut prices on their blockbuster weight-loss and diabetes drugs in an op-ed published Tuesday by USA Today.

The list price of Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic, which treats type 2 diabetes, is more than $900 a month, while Wegovy, used to treat obesity, can cost more than $1,300 for a four-dose package. Both brands contain the active ingredient semaglutide. Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide, sold as Mounjaro for type 2 diabetes and Zepbound for obesity, can cost patients up to $1,100 a month.

“These drugs have the potential to be game-changers for people around the world battling type 2 diabetes and obesity. But as important as they are, they will do nothing for the millions of patients who cannot afford them,” the two Democrats wrote. They added that the cost of the drugs could put a significant financial strain on the U.S. health care system.

Under the Biden administration, Medicare began negotiating prices for the program’s most expensive drugs. Medicare currently does not cover the cost of weight-loss drugs.

Analysts estimate that sales of these drugs could reach more than $100 billion by the end of the decade.

—Christina Cheddar Berk

Tesla shares jumped 4% after the electric vehicle maker reported better-than-expected second-quarter delivery figures.

Deliveries for the period were 443,956, beating StreetAccount’s estimate of 439,000. Tesla said it produced 411,000 vehicles.

Check out some of the companies making headlines in pre-market trading:

• Tesla — The electric vehicle stock was down 1.5% before the close, after jumping 6% in Monday trading as the company is set to release its second-quarter delivery figures Tuesday morning.
• Atlassian Corporation — Shares rose nearly 2% after a rating upgrade from Piper Sandler to overweight. Analyst Rob Owens said the software maker’s stock could see growth as consumers move their data to the cloud. Owens added that the current stock price provides an attractive entry point for investors.
• Paramount Global — Shares of the traditional media company jumped more than 3% after news broke that its streaming arm was in talks with several companies about a potential merger. One of the parties involved is Warner Bros. Discovery and would potentially see Paramount+ merged with Max, CNBC previously reported.

Read the full list here.

—Brian Evans

Shares of Paramount Global were up nearly 4% in premarket trading. CNBC reported Monday that the company is in talks with other companies about merging its Paramount+ streaming service with another platform. One of the companies interested in such a deal is Warner Bros. Discover, according to people familiar with the matter.

The May job openings and turnover survey is due out Tuesday morning. Economists polled by Dow Jones forecast that the number of job openings last month fell to 7.9 million from 8.1 million in April.

The data is expected to be released at 10 a.m. ET.

-Sarah Min

Stock futures opened little changed Monday evening.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 9 points, or 0.02%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.01% and 0.02%, respectively.

-Sarah Min