Mid-Day Market Update: Crude Oil Dips 6%; Cytokinetics Shares Spike Higher

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded down 2.28% to 33,896.40 while the NASDAQ fell 1.31% to 14,238.93. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.74% to 4,251.79.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 34,080,000 cases with around 609,020 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 31,144,220 cases and 414,100 deaths, while Brazil reported over 19,376,570 COVID-19 cases with 542,210 deaths. In total, there were at least 190,467,680 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 4,089,900 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer staples shares slipped by just 0.6% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included TDH Holdings, Inc. PETZ, up 14%, and The Kroger Co. KR, up 2%.

In trading on Monday, energy shares tumbled 4.1%.

Top Headline

AutoNation, Inc. AN reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its second quarter on Monday.

AutoNation reported quarterly adjusted earnings of $4.83 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $2.58 per share. The company’s revenue came in at $6.98 billion, versus expectations of $6.02 billion. AutoNation also reported a $1 billion buyback plan.

 

Equities Trading UP

Cytokinetics, Incorporated CYTK shares shot up 48% to $28.51 after the company announced positive topline results from Cohorts 1 and 2 of REDWOOD-HCM Phase 2 trial of CK-3773274 (CK-274) in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). The Company plans to initiate Phase 3 trial by the end of 2021.

Shares of NRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. NRXP got a boost, shooting 37% to $11.64 after the company announced it presented evidence that its ZYESAMI helps prevent "Cytokine Storm" in patients with COVID-19.

Aehr Test Systems AEHR shares were also up, gaining 39% to $4.74 after the company won a $10.8 million single purchase order from its lead silicon carbide test and burn-in customer for multiple FOX-XP systems and complete sets of WaferPak Contactors to meet their increased production capacity needs.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Red Cat Holdings, Inc. RCAT shares tumbled 46% to $3.7990 after the company priced 13.33 million shares at $4.5 per share to raise $60 million in a secondary public offering.

Shares of Moving iMage Technologies, Inc. MITQ were down 25% to $4.00. Moving iMage Technologies recently priced its initial public offering of 4.2 million common shares at $3 per share.

Aeva Technologies, Inc. AEVA was down, falling 10% to $8.73. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Aeva Technologies with an Equal-Weight rating and announced a price target of $11.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 6.2% to $67.35, while gold traded up 0.1% to $1,815.30.

Silver traded down 1.7% Monday to $25.35 while copper fell 2.6% to $4.21.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 2.63%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 2.76% and the German DAX 30 dropped 3.05%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 fell 2.67%, French CAC 40 declined 3.08% and Italy’s FTSE MIB fell 3.64%.

Construction output in the Eurozone surged 13.6% year-over-year in May compared to a record 45.2% growth in the earlier month.

Economics

The NAHB housing market index dropped to 80 in July from 81 in the prior month, .

 

Check out the full economic calendar here