Qualcomm shares close higher on Thursday, the acquisition of NXP receives approval from EU antitrust regulators

Qualcomm’s planned acquisition of NXP Semiconductors for $38 billion have reportedly been cleared by antitrust regulators in the European Union. After the largest deal on record in the semiconductor sector is finalized, Qualcomm Incorporated is to become a top supplier to the dynamic automotive chip market.

The shares of Qualcomm Incorporated closed higher for the third time in the past eight trading sessions on Thursday. The stock inched up 0.04% ($0.03) to $68.05, with the intraday high and the intraday low being at $68.14 and $67.49 respectively.

In the week ended on January 14th the shares of the digital communication technology company lost 1.64% of their market value compared to a week ago, which marked the third drop out of four weeks. It has also been the worst performance since the week ended on December 10th.

The stock has extended its advance to 6.29% so far during the current month, following a 3.50% slump in December. The latter has been the sixth drop out of seven months.

For the entire past year, the shares of the NASDAQ-listed smart phone chip maker fell 1.81% following a 30.45% surge in 2016.

In a statement yesterday the European Commission disclosed a set of competition concerns, which had already triggered a thorough investigation. Among the regulatory authoritys concerns had been the interoperability of the merged entitys chips with products and intellectual property associated with near-field communication technology of its competitors.

However, the regulator now gave the green light to the purchase.

“We use our smartphones for many different things and now also more and more as mobile wallets, to pay for public transport or make other secure payments”, European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said, cited by Reuters.

“With this decision, we ensure that Qualcomm’s takeover of NXP will not prevent consumers from continuing to enjoy the benefits of these innovative technologies at competitive prices”, she added.

According to CNN Money, the 18 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Qualcomm Incorporated’s stock price, have a median target of $65.00, with a high estimate of $83.00 and a low estimate of $53.00. The median estimate is a 4.48% decrease compared to the closing price of $68.05 on January 18th.

The same media also reported that 13 out of 22 surveyed investment analysts had rated Qualcomm Incorporated’s stock as “Hold”, while 7 – as “Buy”.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, today’s levels of importance for the Qualcomm stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $68.11
R2 – $68.17
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $68.23
R4 (Long Breakout) – $68.41
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $68.62
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $68.71

S1 – $67.99
S2 – $67.93
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $67.87
S4 (Short Breakout) – $67.69
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $67.48
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $67.39

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $65.60
R1 – $66.31
R2 – $67.25
R3 – $67.96
R4 – $68.68

S1 – $64.66
S2 – $63.95
S3 – $63.01
S4 – $62.08