Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Flat; Netflix Issues Disappointing Subscriber Guidance

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 0.06% to 26,716 while the NASDAQ rose 0.04% to 10,477. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.1% to 3,218.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 3,576,430 cases with around 138,360 deaths. Brazil confirmed a total of over 2,012,150 COVID-19 cases with 76,680 deaths, while India reported a total of at least 1,003,830 confirmed cases and 25,600 deaths. In total, there were at least 13,830,930 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 590,600 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares rose 1.3% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras S.A. - Eletrobras EBR, up 4%, and Avangrid, Inc. AGR, up 2%.

In trading on Friday, communication services shares fell 0.8%.

Top Headline

Netflix Inc NFLX reported mixed results for its second quarter.

The company reported downbeat quarterly earnings, while sales exceeded views. Netflix issued weak outlook for new subscriber additions and also named 20-year Netflix veteran Ted Sarandos to the role of co-CEO alongside co-founder Reed Hastings..

Equities Trading UP

RumbleON, Inc. RMBL shares shot up 115% to $23.02 after the company announced a dealer-centric pilot program with CarGurus.

Shares of Verona Pharma plc VRNA got a boost, shooting 77% to $8.52 after the company announced it raised $200 million in a private placement at $4.50 per share.

Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. APDN shares were also up, gaining 45% to $13.07 following the release of positive preclinical data for its partnered coronavirus vaccine candidate. The company said linear-DNA forms of COVID-19 vaccine candidates being developed by partner Takis Biotech and manufactured by Applied DNAyielded strong antibody and T-cell responses even at very low doses, raising the potential of effective dosing empowering global utility.

Equities Trading DOWN

Aehr Test Systems AEHR shares tumbled 22% to $1.91 after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q4 revenue.

Shares of Itau Corpbanca ITCB were down 16% to $4.4602 after climbing 32.3% on Thursday. Itau Corpbanca is expected to release Q2 earnings on August 3, 2020.

NIO Inc. NIO was down, falling 12% to $11.44 after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock from Neutral to Sell and announced a $7 price target.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 0.6% to $40.51, while gold traded up 0.3% to $1,805.70.

Silver traded up 0.1% Friday to $19.58, while copper rose 0.2% to $2.906.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.6%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.1%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.1%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 gained 0.2%, French CAC 40 fell 0.3% and UK shares rose 0.4%.

Economics

Housing starts climbed 17.3% to an annualized rate of 1,186 thousand in June, while building permits gained 2.1% to an annual rate of 1.241 million.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index dropped to 73.2 in July versus 78.1 in June.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.