A great start to the shortened week for the markets as all the major indices finish at session highs. The Nasdaq led the way with a 98 point pop (2.27%). The S&P 500 posted a nice 30 point gain (1.64%), and the Dow finished up 220 (1.38%)Shares of Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN) soared 41.18% today as quarterly regulatory filings revealed that recent Chinese IPO Alibaba (NASDAQ: BABA) owns a whopping 33 million shares. This makes Alibaba the fourth largest shareholder with a 5.6% stake in the company. Shares of Groupon saw massive volume today as it closed near the highs of the session.
More bad news for in flight internet service provider Gogo (NASDAQ: GOGO) as a report came out today that American Airlines (NYSE: AAL) is suing the company. American claims that its contract with Gogo allows them to terminate its agreement if another provider offers a better service. Shares of Gogo finished lower by 27.43% today.
Apple pay gets a boost today as the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China says that Apple pay mobile system will go live in China on February 18th. This marks a global domination for Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and its new pay system as this is now the fifth country to offer the mobile service. Shares of AAPL closed up 2.73%.
Lastly, oil suffered a small 1.4% decline today after OPEC agreed to freeze production at its current levels. This was seen as negative news for oil as, just last week OPEC suggested that they would consider cutting production... not freezing it. Initially oil popped on the news but then sellers took control and oil closed near session lows.