Mid-Day Market Update: Dow Tumbles 650 Points; Lianluo Smart Shares Climb

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded down 2.31% to 27680.07 while the NASDAQ fell 1.56% to 11,367.63. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.97% to 3,397.27.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 8,636,990 cases with around 225,230 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 7,909,950 confirmed cases and 119,010 deaths, while Brazil reported over 5,394,120 COVID-19 cases with 157,130 deaths. In total, there were at least 43,117,880 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 1,154,700 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares slipped by just 1.1% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Empresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora Norte Sociedad Anónima EDN, up 6%, and Ellomay Capital Ltd. ELLO, up 5%.

In trading on Monday, energy shares tumbled 3.2%.

Top Headline

Hasbro, Inc. HAS reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter.

Hasbro reported quarterly earnings of $1.88 per share, missing analysts’ estimates of $1.62 per share. The company posted sales of $1.78 billion, surpassing expectations of $1.73 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Lianluo Smart Limited LLIT shares shot up 33% to $4.32 after the company announced it would merge with Newegg.

Shares of Muscle Maker, Inc. GRIL got a boost, shooting 40% to $2.1417 after the company announced it acquired one of its previously franchised-owned locations in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.

Document Security Systems, Inc. DSS shares were also up, gaining 47% to $5.95 after the company swung to a profit in the third quarter.

 

Equities Trading DOWN

BioSig Technologies, Inc. BSGM shares tumbled 39% to $3.07 after the company announced its ViralClear Pharmaceuticals subsidiary has halted its Phase 2 hospitalization coronavirus trial.

Shares of SAP SE SAP were down 23% to $114.80 after the company reported around 4% year-over-year drop in revenue for the third quarter and lowered its revenue outlook for the year.

Aileron Therapeutics, Inc. ALRN was down, falling 28% to $1.3596 after the company disclosed clinical data from ongoing ALRN-6924 Phase 1b trial.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 3.7% to $38.39, while gold traded down 0.1% to $1,905.10.

Silver traded down 1% Monday to $24.44 while copper fell 1.3% to $3.0870.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 1.54%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.12%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 1.55%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 dropped 3.34%, French CAC 40 fell 1.6% and London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.73%.

German Ifo Business Climate indicator dipped to 92.7 in October versus a seven-month high of 93.2 in September. Spain's producer prices dropped 3.3% year-over-year in September after falling 3.5% in the prior month.

Economics

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index declined to 0.270 in September versus prior reading of 0.790.

Sales of new US homes fell 3.5% to an annual rate of 959,000 in September.

The Dallas Fed general business activity index for manufacturing increased rose 6.2 points to a reading of 19.8 in October.