Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Vocera Communications Surges On Upbeat Q2 Results; Nemaura Medical Shares Slide

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.24% to 26521.62 while the NASDAQ fell 0.35% to 10,499.83. However, the S&P gained 0.03% to 3,240.27.

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 1.5% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Spire Inc. SR, up 5%, and Northwest Natural Holding Company NWN, up 5%.

In trading on Tuesday, materials shares fell 1.6%.

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 219% to $8.35 after the company announced it 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 36% to $6.36 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.

Vocera Communications, Inc. VCRA shares were also up, gaining 37% to $32.00 after reporting upbeat results for its second quarter. SVB Leerink raised the price target on the stock from $16 to $18.

Equities Trading DOWN

CorMedix Inc. CRMD shares tumbled 21% to $4.7501 after the company priced its 4.44 million share offering at $4.50 per share.

Shares of Nemaura Medical Inc. NMRD were down 27% to $6.80 as the company said it intends to offer for sale shares of its common stock and warrants to purchase shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering.

Tailored Brands, Inc. TLRD was down, falling 27% to $0.4402 following a Bloomberg report suggesting the company is likely to file for bankruptcy.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 1.4% to $41.02, while gold traded up 0.6% to $1,943.10.

Silver traded down 0.6% Tuesday to $24.36, while copper rose 0.6% to $2.916.

Euro zone

European shares closed mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.42%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.06%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.59%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 dropped 0.03%, French CAC 40 declined 0.22% and UK shares rose 0.4%.

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.