Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; AZZ Profit Tops Views

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded down 0.95% to 35,888.97 while the NASDAQ fell 1.59% to 14,699.18. The S&P also fell, dropping, 1.27% to 4,617.70.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 61,263,030 cases with around 859,350 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 35,708,440 cases and 483,930 deaths, while Brazil reported over 22,523,900 COVID-19 cases with 620,030 deaths. In total, there were at least 308,004,270 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 5,507,340 deaths.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares fell by just 0.2% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Xcel Energy Inc. XEL, up 1% and CenterPoint Energy, Inc. CNP up 1%.

In trading on Monday, consumer discretionary shares fell 2.3%.

Top Headline

AZZ Inc AZZ reported upbeat earnings for its third quarter on Monday.

AZZ posted quarterly earnings of $0.85 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $0.82 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $231.74 million, versus expectations of $238.63 million.

AZZ reaffirmed FY22 sales guidance of $865 million to $925 million. The company said it sees FY22 EPS of $3.00 to $3.20.

 

Equities Trading UP

Bone Biologics Corporation BBLG shares shot up 62% to $5.57.

Shares of Zynga Inc. ZNGA got a boost, shooting 47% to $8.79 after the company announced it will be acquired by Take-Two Interactive Software Inc TTWO in a cash and stock transaction valued at $9.86 per Zynga share, representing a total enterprise value of approximately $12.7 billion.

Apria, Inc. APR shares were also up, gaining 25% to $37.20. Owens & Minor agreed to acquire Apria for $37.50 in cash per share of common stock, representing an equity value of approximately $1.45 billion.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

TDH Holdings, Inc. PETZ shares tumbled 55% to $1.82. TDH Holdings, last month, reported H1 revenue of $130,000.

Shares of Hour Loop, Inc. HOUR were down 20% to $6.36. The company’s stock jumped around 100% on Friday after the company priced its IPO at $4 per share.

Torrid Holdings Inc. CURV was down, falling 18% to $8.82 after the company lowered its Q4 revenue guidance.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.4% to $78.56, while gold traded down 0.2% to $1,793.70.

Silver traded down 0.4% Monday to $22.32 while copper fell 1.5% to $4.3450.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 1%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.3%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.6%. The German DAX dropped 0.8%, French CAC 40 declined 1% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.6%.

The unemployment rate in Italy dropped to 9.2% in November from 9.4% in the prior month.

Economics

US wholesale inventories rose 1.3% for November, versus analysts’ expectations for a 1.2% increase.

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

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is set to speak at 12:00 p.m. ET.

The Investor Movement Index for December will be released at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Check out the full economic calendar here