Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Higher; Thermo Fisher Scientific Tops Q2 Estimates

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.13% to 26875.29 while the NASDAQ rose 0.39% to 10722.03. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.24% to 3,264.96.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 3,902,230 cases with around 142,070 deaths. Brazil confirmed a total of over 2,159,650 COVID-19 cases with 81,480 deaths, while India reported a total of at least 1,193,070 confirmed cases and 28,730 deaths. In total, there were at least 14,974,440 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 617,250 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares rose 1% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Calix, Inc. CALX, up 9%, and AudioCodes Ltd. AUDC, up 8%.

In trading on Tuesday, energy shares fell 2.1%.

Top Headline

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. TMO reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its second quarter.

Thermo Fisher Scientific posted quarterly earnings of $3.89 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $2.84 per share. The company reported sales of $6.92 billion, also exceeding expectations of $6.13 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Mexco Energy Corporation MXC shares shot up 179% to $10.20 after jumping over 18% on Tuesday.

Shares of Sundance Energy Inc. SNDE got a boost, shooting 61% to $3.84.

Oblong Inc. OBLG shares were also up, gaining 56% to $3.8999 after declining 12% on Tuesday.

Equities Trading DOWN

FirstEnergy Corp. FE shares tumbled 30% to $23.94 after the company issued a statement on Tuesday on the HB 6 investigation, saying 'We are reviewing the details of the investigation and we intend to fully cooperate.' Several firms, including ScotiaBank, Guggenheim, Evercore ISI Group and KeyBanc also downgraded the company's stock.

Shares of Global Eagle Entertainment Inc. ENT were down 30% to $2.36 after the company reached an agreement on definitive asset purchase agreement with substantial majority of senior secured first-lien term loan investors.

Midatech Pharma plc MTP was down, falling 27% to $3.155. Midatech Pharma shares jumped 153% on Tuesday after the company announced a research collaboration for the Q-Sphera platform with a European pharmaceutical company.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 1.4% to $41.34, while gold traded up 0.8% to $1,858.40.

Silver traded up 7.5% Wednesday to $23.17, while copper rose 1.1% to $2.9265.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.8%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.3%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.7%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 declined 0.4%, French CAC 40 dropped 1% and UK shares fell 0.8%.

Economics

The FHFA house price index fell 0.3% in May, versus a revised 0.1% rise in April.

U.S. existing home sales surged 20.7% to an annual rate of 4.72 million units in June.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.