Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Tyson Foods Posts Upbeat Q4 Results

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded up 0.27% to 36,196.19 while the NASDAQ rose 0.26% to 15,902.90. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.24% to 4,693.92.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 47,916,190 cases with around 783,560 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 34,447,530 cases and 463,650 deaths, while Brazil reported over 21,957,960 COVID-19 cases with 611,310 deaths. In total, there were at least 254,144,870 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 5,117,860 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares gained by 0.5% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included NRG Energy, Inc. NRG, up 2% and PNM Resources, Inc. PNM up 2%.

In trading on Monday, materials shares fell 0.5%.

Top Headline

Tyson Foods, Inc. TSN reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Monday.

Tyson Foods posted quarterly earnings of $2.30 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $2.03 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $12.81 billion, versus expectations of $12.66 billion.

Tyson said it sees FY22 sales of $49 billion to $51 billion, versus analysts’ estimates of $47.99 billion. The company also boosted its quarterly dividend from $0.445 to $0.46 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Casper Sleep Inc. CSPR shares shot up 87% to $6.66 after the company agreed to be acquired by Durational Capital Management. The company also reported Q3 earnings results.

Shares of Patriot National Bancorp, Inc. PNBK got a boost, shooting 45% to $14.51. Patriot National Bancorp and American Challenger Development Corp. agreed to merge.

SilverSun Technologies, Inc. SSNT shares were also up, gaining 46% to $8.11. SilverSun Technologies announced plans to acquire Acumatica division of Dynamic Tech Services, Inc.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Telos Corporation TLS shares tumbled 34% to $16.00 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q3 results and cut guidance.

Shares of BioXcel Therapeutics, Inc. BTAI were down 21% to $27.39 after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock from Buy to Sell and lowered its price target from $55 to $24.

Butterfly Network, Inc. BFLY was down, falling 17% to $7.14 after the company posted downbeat Q3 sales and issued weak FY21 sales forecast.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.2% to $79.83, while gold traded down 0.2% to $1,865.60.

Silver traded down 0.3% Monday to $25.28 while copper rose 0.1% to $4.451.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.1%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.1% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.2%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.1%, French CAC 40 rose 0.3% and Italy’s FTSE MIB rose 0.2%.

The Eurozone trade surplus shrank to EUR 7.3 billion in September from EUR 24.1 billion in the year-ago month.

Economics

The New York Empire State Manufacturing Index surged to 30.9 in November from 19.8 in October.

The Treasury will auction 3-and 6-month bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Check out the full economic calendar here