Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; McDonald's Profit Misses Views

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.42% to 26473.23 while the NASDAQ fell 0.53% to 10480.12. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.27% to 3,230.77.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 4,294,770 cases with around 148,050 deaths. Brazil confirmed a total of over 2,442,370 COVID-19 cases with 87,610 deaths, while India reported a total of at least 1,480,070 confirmed cases and 33,400 deaths. In total, there were at least 16,495,300 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 654,320 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares rose 1.1% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Spire Inc. SR, up 4%, and UGI Corporation UGI, up 2%.

In trading on Tuesday, materials shares fell 1.2%.

Top Headline

Mcdonald's Corp MCD reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its second quarter, while sales exceed views.

McDonald's posted quarterly earnings of $0.66 per share, missing analysts’ estimates of $0.74 per share. The company reported sales of $3.76 billion, exceeding expectations of $3.68 billion.

McDonald's global comparable sales declined 23.9% during the quarter.

Equities Trading UP

Eastman Kodak Company KODK shares shot up 350% to $11.78 following a WSJ report suggesting the company has landed a $765 million US loan under the Defense Production Act to manufacture drugs to treat a variety of conditions.

Shares of Francesca's Holdings Corporation FRAN got a boost, shooting 67% to $7.76 after the company announced it has reopened 674 out of 702 boutiques and has repaid $2 million of outstanding borrowings. The company also reported its Q1 earnings results and issued Q2 guidance.

Sequential Brands Group, Inc. SQBG shares were also up, gaining 36% to $7.09 after declining over 25% on Monday.

Equities Trading DOWN

MediciNova, Inc. MNOV shares tumbled 29% to $7.76. MediciNova shares surged 95% on Monday after the company announced an agreement with BioComoor for the joint development of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.

Shares of Nemaura Medical Inc. NMRD were down 25% to $6.97 as the company said it intends to offer for sale shares of its common stockand warrants to purchase shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering.

Wilhelmina International, Inc. WHLM was down, falling 22% to $6.05 after jumping more than 112% on Monday.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 0.3% to $41.46, while gold traded down 0.5% to $1,920.90.

Silver traded down 3.3% Tuesday to $23.70, while copper fell 0.4% to $2.886.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.1%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.2%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 1%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 dropped 0.4%, French CAC 40 declined 0.7% and UK shares fell 0.1%.

Economics

The Federal Open Market Committee will begin its two-day policy meeting today.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index increased 3.7% year-over-year in May.

The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index declined to 92.6 in July, versus a revised reading of 98.3 in June.

The Treasury is set to auction 7-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.