Mid-Day Market Update: Gold Jumps 2%; WiMi Hologram Cloud Shares Plummet

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.23% to 26,529.67 while the NASDAQ rose 0.60% to 10,425.62. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.29% to 3,225.02.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 4,234,140 cases with around 146,930 deaths. Brazil confirmed a total of over 2,419,090 COVID-19 cases with 87,000 deaths, while India reported a total of at least 1,435,610 confirmed cases and 32,770 deaths. In total, there were at least 16,264,040 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 648,960 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Materials shares rose 1.4% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Koppers Holdings Inc. KOP, up 18%, and Platinum Group Metals Ltd. PLG, up 12%.

In trading on Monday, utilities shares fell 1%.

Top Headline

RPM International Inc. RPM reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.

RPM International posted quarterly earnings of $1.13 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.01 per share. The company reported sales of $1.46 billion, exceeding expectations of $1.40 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Sogou Inc. SOGO shares shot up 48% to $8.48 after the company received a preliminary non-binding acquisition offer from Tencent at $9 per share in cash.

Shares of MediciNova, Inc. MNOV got a boost, shooting 60% to $9.04 after the company announced an agreement with BioComoor for the joint development of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.

Socket Mobile, Inc. SCKT shares were also up, gaining 104% to $3.0634 following news the company launched its DuraSled barcode scanner sled for mobile device protector, XCover Pro.

Equities Trading DOWN

WiMi Hologram Cloud Inc. WIMI shares tumbled 33% to $7.52 after the company priced its 7.56 million ADS offering at $8.18 per ADS.

Shares of BioHiTech Global, Inc. BHTG were down 14% to $1.78 as the company reported the pricing of $8.2 million offering at $1.81 per share.

Diffusion Pharmaceuticals Inc. DFFN was down, falling 14% to $1.14 after the company received guidance from the FDA on the company's IND for trans sodium crocetinate in Covid-19 patients.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 1.5% to $40.69, while gold traded up 2.1% to $1,936.90.

Silver traded up 7% Monday to $24.45, while copper rose 0.2% to $2.899.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.14%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.66%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.29%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 gained 0.28%, French CAC 40 declined 0.15% and UK shares fell 0.09%.

Economics

U.S. durable goods orders climbed 7.3% in June after rising 15.1% in May.

The Dallas Fed manufacturing index rose to -3.0 in July, versus a reading of -6.1 in the previous month.

The Treasury is set to auction 6-month bills and 2-year notes at 11:30 a.m. ET.

The Treasury will auction 3-month bills and 5-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.