Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; AZZ Reports Upbeat Q1 Results

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded up 1.10% to 34,799.54 while the NASDAQ rose 0.63% to 14,651.61. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.84% to 4,357.03.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 33,792,440 cases with around 606,480 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 30,752,950 cases and 405,930 deaths, while Brazil reported over 18,962,760 COVID-19 cases with 530,170 deaths. In total, there were at least 185,650,020 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 4,012,450 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Financial shares rose by 2.2% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included The Bancorp, Inc. TBBK, up 6%, and Vericity, Inc. VERY, up 6%.

In trading on Friday, utilities shares fell 0.6%.

Top Headline

AZZ Inc AZZ reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter and raised profit forecast for FY22.

AZZ reported quarterly earnings of $0.88 per share, exceeding analysts’ estimates of $0.62 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $229.80 million, versus expectations of $223.69 million.

AZZ raised its FY22 EPS guidance from $2.45-$2.95 to $2.65-$3.05. The company said it now expects FY22 sales of $855 million to $935 million, versus earlier forecast of $835 million to $935 million.

 

Equities Trading UP

Carver Bancorp, Inc. CARV shares shot up 61% to $35.33 as traders play the stock as a high-short interest name.

Shares of Stamps.com Inc. STMP got a boost, shooting 64% to $323.69. Software investment firm Thoma Bravo inked an agreement to acquire e-commerce shipping solutions provider Stamps.com in an all-cash transaction valued at $6.6 billion.

Galectin Therapeutics Inc. GALT shares were also up, gaining 40% to $3.8639 after the company announced top-line clinical data from the extension cohort of Phase 1b trial of Belapectin in combination with Merck & Co’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in patients with metastatic melanoma and head & neck cancer.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Nova LifeStyle, Inc. NVFY shares tumbled 33% to $4.37 after jumping over 71% on Thursday.

Shares of Sigilon Therapeutics, Inc. SGTX were down 30% to $6.48. The FDA has instituted a clinical hold on Sigilon Therapeutics Phase 1/2 study of SIG-001 in patients with severe or moderately severe hemophilia A.

Moving iMage Technologies, Inc. MITQ was down, falling 29% to $17.10 after jumping 700% on Thursday. Moving iMage Technologies priced its initial public offering of 4.2 million common shares at $3 per share.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.1% to $73.74, while gold traded up 0.2% to $1,803.90.

Silver traded up 0.5% Friday to $26.125 while copper rose 1.9% to $4.3435.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 1%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.8% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.9%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.8%, French CAC 40 jumped 1.8% and Italy’s FTSE MIB surged 1.4%.

German current account surplus increased to EUR 13.1 billion in May from EUR 7.1 billion in the year-ago month, while trade surplus widened to EUR 12.3 billion from EUR 7 billion.

Economics

US wholesale inventories rose 1.3% in May versus a revised 1.1% increase in April.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is scheduled for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Check out the full economic calendar here