U.S.-listed shares of China Jo-Jo Drugstores Inc. were up about 21% in premarket trading on Friday. The company, which is based in Hangzhou, China, operates drugstores and an online pharmacy in China. It is also a wholesale distributor for pharmacy products and grows and sells herbs used for traditional Chinese medicine. There is growing concern about the number of people in China who are getting sick with COVID-19 as the country loosens restrictions. Drugstores have been mobbed by customers buying cold medicine after rules were dropped that required pharmacists to report sales of those products, according to the Associated Press. China Jo-Jo’s stock is down 51.4% this year.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.