Apple, Ford, NIO, Moderna, BP, Rocket Pharmaceuticals, and More Stock Market Movers

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Stock futures slipped Wednesday ahead of U.S. consumer price index data. Economists forecast that CPI climbed at a 3.6% annual pace in August, up from the 3.2% pace recorded in July. 

These stocks were poised to make moves Wednesday: 

Apple

(AAPL) was down 0.4%, a day after declining 1.7% following the release of its new iPhone lineup. While some analysts had expected price increases across the Pro lineup,

Apple

only increased the starting price of its iPhone 15 Pro Max phone by $10.

U.S.-listed shares of

BP

(BP) rose 1.6% in premarket trading after Chief Executive Bernard Looney resigned amid an investigation into new allegations of his personal relationships with colleagues. Looney had pushed for the oil giant’s transition to clean energy.

Ford

(F) was rising 1.7% to $12.66, and

General Motors

(GM) gained 0.6% to $33.67.

UBS

 initiated coverage of Ford with a Buy rating and price target of $15, while the analysts upgraded General Motors to Buy from Neutral and raised the price target to $44 from $41. The upgrades come as the United Auto Workers and the “Detroit Three” auto makers, including

Stellantis

(STLA), are running out of time to negotiate a new labor contract before the deadline of Thursday at 11:59 p.m. UBS said four weeks of a strike at each of the auto makers has been priced in.

Moderna

(MRNA) rose 4.2% after the vaccine maker released positive results from a late-stage trial of an mRNA flu vaccine and noted strides made in investigational treatments for cancer and latent, rare, and infectious diseases.

Spirit Airlines

(SAVE) fell 3% after the airline reduced its third-quarter guidance, citing higher fuel prices and an increase in discounted flights booked through the pre-Thanksgiving travel window.

American depositary receipts of

NIO

(

NIO

) declined 2.1%,

XPeng

(XPEV) was down 3.3%, and

Li Auto

(LI) fell 2.2% after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said an anti-subsidy investigation would be launched into Chinese electric-vehicle makers.

Tesla

(TSLA), which holds a sizable share of the European EV market, rose 0.9%. 

Rocket Pharmaceuticals

(RCKT) jumped 22% after the pharmaceutical company said it reached alignment with the Food and Drug Administration regarding its global Phase 2 trial for a treatment of Danon disease, a fatal genetic cardiac disease.

Write to Joe Woelfel at joseph.woelfel@barrons.com