Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Campbell Soup Profit Tops Views

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 1.03% to 26008.70 while the NASDAQ rose 0.53% to 9659.40. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.85% to 3107.15.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 1,831,820 cases with around 106,180 deaths. Brazil confirmed a total of over 555,380 COVID-19 cases with 31,190 deaths, while Russia reported a total of at least 431,710 confirmed cases and 5,200 deaths. In total, there were at least 6,399,870 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 380,660 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Financial shares rose 2.9% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Shinhan Financial Group Co., Ltd. SHG, up 11%, and Ready Capital Corporation RC, up 12%.

In trading on Wednesday, health care shares fell 0.4%.

Top Headline

Campbell Soup Company CPB reported upbeat results for its third quarter, and raised its FY20 guidance.

Campbell posted quarterly earnings of $0.83 per share, exceeding analysts’ estimates of $0.71 per share. The company reported sales of $2.24 billion, missing the consensus views of $2.17 billion.

Campbell Soup raised its FY20 adjusted EPS guidance from $2.55-$2.60 to $2.87-$2.92.

Equities Trading UP

FSD Pharma Inc. HUGE shares shot up 258% to $11.11 following an announcement regarding a potential COVID-19 drug. FSD said the FDA has approved its IND application for studying FSD-201 for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. FSD-201, according to the company, is ultramicronized palmitoylethanolamide, or PEA.

Shares of Secoo Holding Limited SECO got a boost, shooting 72% to $3.68. Qudian and Secoo announced they have entered into an investment and strategic partnership.

Genius Brands International, Inc. GNUS shares were also up, gaining 63% to $6.57 after surging over 53% on Tuesday.

Equities Trading DOWN

Evofem Biosciences, Inc. EVFM shares tumbled 24% to $3.535 after the company announced a proposed public offering of 28.5 million shares of common stock at $3.50 per share.

Shares of Ameri Holdings, Inc. AMRH were down 18% to $2.3501 after the company priced its $1.725 million registered direct offering at the market with no specific price disclosed.

HealthEquity, Inc. HQY was down, falling 11% to $55.74 after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q1 results and also issued downbeat Q2 guidance.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 0.1% to $36.85, while gold traded down 0.6% to $1,724.50.

Silver traded down 0.2% Wednesday to $18.22, while copper fell 0.1% to $2.49.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 1.4%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.7%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 2.3%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 gained 2.4%, French CAC 40 rose 2% and UK shares rose 1.3%.

Economics

Private-sector businesses fired 2.76 million workers for May, after shedding 19.56 million in April.

The IHS/Markit services PMI rose to 37.5 in May versus a record low of 26.7 for April.

U.S. factory orders dropped 13.0% in April, versus a revised 11.0% decline in March.

The ISM non-manufacturing PMI rose to 45.4 in May, versus a reading of 41.8 in the prior month.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.