Here are the top gap ups and downs for the stocks with a market cap above $5 billion after the previous market closed (gaps range from large to small):
Gap Ups
1. $Fair Isaac (FICO.US)$ - up 15.95%
2. $NICE Ltd (NICE.US)$ - up 15.35%
3. $BILL Holdings (BILL.US)$ - up 8.69%
4. $Datadog (DDOG.US)$ - up 7.05%
5. $Coupang (CPNG.US)$ - up 6.21%
6. $Match group (MTCH.US)$ - up 5.98%
7. $Zscaler (ZS.US)$ - up 5.97%
8. $ServiceNow (NOW.US)$ - up 5...

By Danilo
Hey, mooers! Here are things you need to know before the opening bell:
- U.S. stock futures rose in early trading on Wednesday, after stocks continued their upward climb overnight from the omicron sell-off.
- Last year, Apple became the first American company to record a market value of $2 trillion. Another 6.8% gain will send its market cap to $3 trillion.
Market Snapshot
U.S. stock futures rose in early trading on Wednesday, after stocks continued their upward climb overnight from the omicron sell-off.
$Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ futures lost 24 points, while $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ futures gained 2 points and $NASDAQ 100 Index (.NDX.US)$ futures were up by 0.2%.
Market Temperature
Read more: Market Temperature (12/8)
Top News
Futures point to more gains for u.s. stocks
U.S. stocks were poised for further gains, potentially pushing the S&P 500 toward record territory, amid optimism that the economic impact of Omicron will be less drastic than first feared. European and Asian indexes also broadly gained, while oil prices edged lower.
House votes to approve bill setting up process for lifting debt limit
House leaders introduced legislation that would pave the way for Democrats to raise the debt ceiling in the Senate without Republican support, as lawmakers closed in on a procedural agreement to resolve the partisan clash over lifting the borrowing limit.
Companies plan big raises for workers in 2022
Companies are planning for steeper wage increases next year than at any point since the 2007-2009 recession, according to a new report, amid a tight labor market and the highest inflation in three decades.
U.S. boosted oil and food exports in october, as the trade deficit narrowed
An increase in exports of energy and agricultural commodities outpaced growth in imports, which were restrained by a backlog at U.S. ports.
Supply-chain snags likely to persist, three ceos say
The chiefs of $Intel (INTC.US)$, $Wayfair (W.US)$ and $Accenture (ACN.US)$ each said that the disruptions rippling across the U.S. economy are improving for some companies but that long-term fixes might take much longer.
Facebook's head of messenger to leave company next year
Stan Chudnovsky's resignation is the latest in a series of high-profile departures from the social-media company. $Meta Platforms (FB.US)$
BlackRock to pull $2 trillion in assets from State Street
State Street was sole custodian for the investing firm's U.S. exchange-traded fund business for more than a decade. $Blackrock (BLK.US)$ $State Street (STT.US)$
Read More
Could Apple hit $3 trillion market valuation?
Elon Musk slams billionaire tax again
Are you a fan of meme stocks? The MEME ETF will be launched today!
Sector Valuation | Financial Services & Real Estate
Is VW still considering Porsche IPO?
Key Events This Week
Source: CNBC, Dow Jones Newswires, Bloomberg

$Pfizer (PFE.US)$ $Moderna (MRNA.US)$ $AstraZeneca (AZN.US)$ $Novavax (NVAX.US)$ $Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.US)$
Scientists in South Africa on Thursday identified a concerning new coronavirus variant, prompting several countries to quickly limit travel from the region.
In the past two days, scientists detected the B1.1.529 variant after observing an increase in infections in South Africa. So far, 22 positive cases have been identified in the country.
By Thursday evening, Britain had banned flights from South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe, starting at noon local time on Friday. No cases of the new variant have been detected in the U.K.
Direct flights from the six countries will be banned from midday on Friday until hotel quarantine is up and running from 4am on Sunday.
The six nations will be added to the country’s red list, which would require British travelers coming from those nations to quarantine on arrival.
Officials from Israel and Singapore had announced that they, too, would add the same countries to their red lists, along with Mozambique.
There is mounting concern among scientists over the ability of the B. 1.1.529 Sars-Cov-2 variant, first identified in Botswana, to evade the body's immune response and make it more transmissible due to its "very unusual constellation" of mutations.
Scientists are still unclear on how effective existing vaccines will be against the new variant, which displays mutations that might resist neutralization.
South Africa has requested an urgent sitting of a World Health Organization working group on virus evolution on Friday to discuss the new variant.

$GE Aerospace (GE.US)$'s decision to split into three companies has private-equity firms looking to carve up GE into even more pieces, the Financial Times reports.
"We are sharpening the pencils," one executive at a large, global alternative asset manager tells FT, who sees everything other than healthcare potentially selling off for a better price in the private marketplace than when it goes public.
GE's energy unit could be sold piecemeal, with RBC analyst Deane Dray telling FT that "any business in the power portfolio is considered non-core. Those would be perfect candidates for private equity."
The unit carries low margins and is forecast by analysts at CreditSights to generate just $1.3B in combined operating cash flow this year across a "hodgepodge of detached businesses."
Other areas of opportunity for alternative asset management giants such as $Apollo Global Management (APO.US)$. $Blackstone (BX.US)$ , $Brookfield Asset Management (BAM.US)$, $The Carlyle Group (CG.US)$ and KKR are said to include GE's 45% stake in $AerCap Holdings (AER.US)$ and the troubled long-term care insurance business.
"This is epochal," a P-E partner tells FT, calling GE's break-up the "death knell" of the conglomerate business strategy.
Dray's sum-of-the-parts model points to an implied valuation of ~$130/share.

Semiconductors, automobiles and the potential for tie-ups between the two industries took the spotlight in the tech sector with seemingly everyone from $Apple (AAPL.US)$ to $Qualcomm (QCOM.US)$ getting behind the wheel this week.
Let's start with $Apple (AAPL.US)$ which said...Absolutely nothing. But, reports that the company has developed a semiconductor "breakthrough", and will produce a fully autonomous electric car within four year were enough to send just about everyone wondering what companies might benefit from Apple putting a so-called "iCar" on the road.
Other chip companies involved into automotive industry actually did have a lot to say during the week. One of those was $NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$, which got a big boost on Wall Street following its better-than-expected earnings report. Nvidia (NVDA) also said it was still pushing ahead with efforts to acquire British chip-technology company Arm Holdings despite more governmental inquiries into the proposed $40 billion acquisition.
$Qualcomm (QCOM.US)$ wouldn't be outdone, as it said it secured a deal to provide its chip technology to BMW for a new generation of the automakers self-driving cars. Qualcomm Chief Executive Cristiano Amon also touted the company's automotive plans as part of its efforts to diversity into new industries for its chip products.
If that wasn't enough, $General Motors (GM.US)$ also said it was working with Qualcomm and other chipmakers to supply semiconductors for its vehicles in an effort to get around chip industry supply shortages.
Back to Apple for a moment. Chief Executive Tim Cook said Apple employees should plan on returning to the office, at least part time, on February 1. Apple also started up a new service program that will let consumers perform their own repairs on some Apple products.
Streaming TV companies weren't being quiet this week, either. $Netflix (NFLX.US)$ unveiled a new website where it will show its top-rated TV shows and movies every week.
$Disney (DIS.US)$ said it is raising the price of its Hulu Live TV service by $5 to $69.99 a month, but will include ESPN+ and Disney+ as part of the streaming package.
$Roku Inc (ROKU.US)$ took a hit after analyst Michael Nathanson cut his rating on the company's stock to sell due to slower advertising growth on the Roku Channel. There were also reports that Roku is developing more than 50 original shows for the Roku Channel.
After a bidding war between some of the largest TV broadcasters and streamers, $Comcast (CMCSA.US)$managed to renew its deal to carry games of the English Premier League for another six years.
For people who use $Uber Technologies (UBER.US)$ a lot, the ride-sharing leader unveiled its new Uber One program where, for a monthly or annual fee, subscribers can get discounts on ride and free food and grocery delivery from Uber Eats.

$Avis Budget (CAR.US)$ Avis Budget (CAR) – Avis Budget reported quarterly earnings of $10.74 per share, well above the $6.52 a share consensus estimate. Revenue also topped Wall Street forecasts. Heavy demand for rental cars and higher rental rates gave a significant boost to Avis Budget’s results. The stock rallied 7% in premarket trading.
$Simon Property (SPG.US)$ Simon Property (SPG) – Simon nearly doubled the $1.09 per share consensus estimate, with quarterly earnings of $2.07 per share. The mall operator’s revenue also came in above analysts’ projections. Simon saw improved occupancy rates for its shopping malls during the quarter as well as an increase in shopper traffic. Simon shares rallied 4.1% in premarket action.
$Clorox (CLX.US)$ Clorox (CLX) – Clorox beat estimates by 18 cents a share, with quarterly earnings of $1.21 per share. The household products maker posted better-than-expected revenue as well, and Clorox backed its prior full-year forecast. Its stock was up 2.2% in the premarket.

How to operate the recap of minimally invasive robotics and the rapidly rising metaverse stock? $MEDBOT-B (02252.HK)$ 
4:25 Unity's performance is being mistreated, why is it an important stock in the metaverse? u.us, mttr.us $Unity Software (U.US)$   $Matterport (MTTR.US)$   $Meta Platforms (FB.US)$   $NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$ 
19:46 How long is the investment cycle of the metaverse?
22:00 Why is the logic of vaccine-related stocks being disrupted? Tengsheng (2137) $BRII-B (02137.HK)$Open Up Medicine (9939) $KINTOR PHARMA-B (09939.HK)$   $Pfizer (PFE.US)$ 
29:43 QA Poly Developments (3800). $GCL TECH (03800.HK)$zhangzhou pientzehuang pharmaceutical (600436). $Zhangzhou Pientzehuang Pharmaceutical (600436.SH)$

$NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$ Bullish?

$Qualcomm (QCOM.US)$ Investor day on Nov. 6, on which the CEO will outline the long-term growth stragetry.