Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Walmart Profit Tops Estimates

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.67% to 35,385.44 while the NASDAQ fell 0.79% to 14,676.74. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.54% to 4,455.32.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 36,888,970 cases with around 622,320 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 32,250,670 cases and 432,070 deaths, while Brazil reported over 20,378,570 COVID-19 cases with 569,490 deaths. In total, there were at least 207,882,950 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 4,372,550 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Health care shares rose 0.6% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included InfuSystem Holdings Inc INFU, up 2% and Asensus Surgical Inc ASXC up 1.5%.

In trading on Tuesday, consumer discretionary fell 2.1%.

Top Headline

Walmart Inc. WMT reported better-than-expected earnings and sales for its second quarter on Tuesday.

Walmart reported quarterly adjusted earnings of $1.78 per share, surpassing analysts’ expectations of $1.56 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $141.00 billion, versus estimates of $136.88 billion.

Walmart said it expects Q3 EPS of $1.30 to $1.40, versus analysts’ estimates of $1.31. The company also sees FY22 EPS of $6.20 to $6.35, compared to expectations of $6.02.

Equities Trading UP

Virpax Pharmaceuticals, Inc. VRPX shares shot up 120% to $9.23 after the company received a written pre-investigational new drug (pre-IND) response from the FDA regarding MMS019.

Shares of Eco Wave Power Global AB WAVE got a boost, shooting 23% to $9.98 after the company entered into a collaboration agreement with the Procurement Administration in the Israeli Ministry of Defense for the Israeli Navy, to examine the feasibility of installing the Eco Wave Power technology in the Bases of the Navy.

monday.com Ltd. MNDY shares were also up, gaining 18% to $288.15 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 results. The company also issued Q3 and FY21 sales guidance above analyst estimates.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Helbiz Inc. HLBZ shares tumbled 26% to $8.10 after dropping over 15% on Monday. Helbiz recently announced the launch of its first electric scooter intended for sale, Helbiz One.

Shares of Kubient Inc KBNT were down 24% to $3.39 after the company reported Q2 earnings results.

CleanSpark Inc. CLSK was down, falling 20% to $10.94 after the company reported downbeat third-quarter results.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.3% to $67.52, while gold traded down 0.1% to $1,788.00.

Silver traded down 0.6% Tuesday to $23.645 while copper fell 2.2% to $4.2310.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.1%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.6% and the German DAX 30 declined 0.4%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.1%, French CAC 40 fell 0.4% and Italy’s FTSE MIB slipped 0.8%.

The UK unemployment rate dropped to 4.7% in the second quarter from 4.9% in the previous period. Labor productivity in the UK declined 0.5% on quarter in the second quarter. The Eurozone economy grew 2.0% on quarter during the second quarter after recording contraction for two consecutive periods.

Economics

US retail sales dropped 1.1% in July following a revised 0.7% rise in June.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index jumped 15.6% year-over-year during the first two weeks of August.

US industrial production increased 0.9% for July.

US business inventories rose 0.8% for June.

The NAHB housing market index fell to 75 in August.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is set to speak at 1:30 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari will speak at 3:45 p.m. ET.

Check out the full economic calendar here