Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Honeywell Tops Q2 Estimates

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 0.31% to 26,569.96 while the NASDAQ fell 1.38% to 10,316.68. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.56% to 3,217.52.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 4,038,860 cases with around 144,300 deaths. Brazil confirmed a total of over 2,287,470 COVID-19 cases with 84,080 deaths, while India reported a total of at least 1,288,100 confirmed cases and 30,600 deaths. In total, there were at least 15,526,050 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 633,650 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares rose 0.6% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Callon Petroleum Company CPE, up 10%, and Southwestern Energy Company SWN, up 7%.

In trading on Friday, information technology shares fell 1.5%.

Top Headline

Honeywell International Inc. HON reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter.

Honeywell posted quarterly earnings of $1.26 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.21 per share. The company reported sales of $7.48 billion, exceeding expectations of $7.29 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Global Eagle Entertainment Inc. ENT shares shot up 161% to $5.48 after the company received interim approvals from the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware for the 'First Day' motions related to the Company's voluntary Chapter 11 petitions.

Shares of ChannelAdvisor Corporation ECOM got a boost, shooting 32% to $19.70 after the company raised its Q2 sales guidance and reported the purchase of Blueboard. Needham maintained ChannelAdvisor with a Buy and raised the price target from $16 to $21.

Arbutus Biopharma Corporation ABUS shares were also up, gaining 26% to $7.80 after the company won a patent challenge brought about by Moderna.

Equities Trading DOWN

eHealth, Inc. EHTH shares tumbled 31% to $78.71 after the company reported Q2 earnings results. The latest quarter results showed negative cash flow despite growth in revenue. Barclays and Credit Suisse lowered their price targets on the stock.

Shares of Intel Corporation INTC were down 17% to $50.17. Intel reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter, but announced delay in its 7-nanometer chip release. Various analysts, including, Roth Capital, Bernstein, Deutsche Bank, B of A Securities and Northland Capital Markets downgraded the stock following quarterly results.

Veoneer, Inc. VNE was down, falling 16% to $11.58 after the company reported financial results for its second quarter.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 0.7% to $41.36, while gold traded down 0.1% to $1,888.50.

Silver traded down 1.3% Friday to $22.69, while copper fell 2% to $2.8805.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 1.4%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.4%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 1.4%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 slipped 1.5%, French CAC 40 declined 1.3% and UK shares fell 1.1%.

Economics

The IHS Markit manufacturing PMI rose to 51.3 in July versus 49.8 in June, while services PMI climbed to 49.6 in July versus 47.9 in the prior month.

U.S. new home sales increased 13.8% to an annual rate of 776,000 in June.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is scheduled for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.