Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; MSC Industrial Beats Q3 Estimates

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.80% to 26096.78 while the NASDAQ rose 1.26% to 10,474.14. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.78% to 3,169.98.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 2,996,090 cases with around 131,480 deaths. Brazil confirmed a total of over 1,668,580 COVID-19 cases with 66,740 deaths, while India reported a total of at least 742,410 confirmed cases and 20,640 deaths. In total, there were at least 11,846,590 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 544,530 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed 1.4% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Clean Energy Fuels Corp. CLNE, up 22%, and TechnipFMC plc FTI, up 8%.

In trading on Wednesday, real estate shares fell 0.2%.

Top Headline

MSC Industrial Direct Co Inc MSM reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter.

MSC Industrial Direct reported quarterly earnings of $1.40 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.10 per share. The company reported sales of $835.00 million, exceeding expectations of $807.94 million.

Equities Trading UP

National General Holdings Corp. NGHC shares shot up 64% to $33.57 after Allstate announced plans to acquire National General Holdings for around $4 billion.

Shares of Intersect ENT, Inc. XENT got a boost, shooting 32% to $18.33 after a Bloomberg report said rival Medtronic PLC has tabled a bid for the former. The board of Intersect ENT is reportedly reviewing the offer.

NanoViricides, Inc. NNVC shares were also up, gaining 27% to $8.82 after the company announced the drug candidates it is developing against the coronavirus demonstrated safety and tolerability in an animal model.

Equities Trading DOWN

MOGU Inc. MOGU shares tumbled 23% to $4.58 after jumping 105% on Tuesday.

Shares of VIVUS, Inc. VVUS were down 23% to $0.6191 after the company said it has completed the solicitation of an in-court prepackaged plan of reorganization, under which its creditor IEH Biopharma will take 100% ownership of VIVUS ahead of its July 7chapter 11 filing.

VOC Energy Trust VOC was down, falling 16% to $1.81.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 0.2% to $40.70, while gold traded up 0.9% to $1,809.10.

Silver traded up 0.5% Wednesday to $18.665, while copper rose 0.8% to $2.7965.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.61%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.44%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.10%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 declined 0.92%, French CAC 40 slipped 0.74% and UK shares fell 1.53%.

Economics

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

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is set to speak at 12:15 p.m. ET.

The Treasury is set to auction 10-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Data on consumer credit for May will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.