Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Down; JPMorgan Profit Beats Estimates

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.30% to 28749.62 while the NASDAQ fell 0.16% to 11,856.86. The S&P also fell, falling 0.32% to 3,522.84.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 7,804,640 cases with around 215,080 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 7,175,880 confirmed cases and 109,850 deaths, while Brazil reported over 5,103,400 COVID-19 cases with 150,680 deaths. In total, there were at least 37,841,550 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 1,081,330 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer staples shares rose 0.2% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Sanderson Farms, Inc. SAFM, up 2%, and The Clorox Company CLX, up 3%.

In trading on Tuesday, real estate shares fell 1%.

Top Headline

JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter.

JPMorgan Chase reported quarterly earnings of $2.92 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $2.23 per share. The company posted sales of $29.10 billion, surpassing expectations of $28.29 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Altimmune, Inc. ALT shares shot up 26% to $15.83. Altimmune yesterday published positive pre-clinical data on its new COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

Shares of iHuman Inc. IH got a boost, shooting 24% to $27.79 after surging 40% on Monday. iHuman shares gained 33% on Friday after pricing its IPO at $12 per ADS..

Mercurity Fintech Holding Inc. MFH shares were also up, gaining 20% to $3.00.

Equities Trading DOWN

Gossamer Bio, Inc. GOSS shares tumbled 33% to $9.12 after the company announced the results from its Phase 2 LEDA trial of oral GB001 in asthma and chronic rhinosinusitis did not meet the primary endpoint.

Shares of Loop Industries, Inc. LOOP were down 30% to $8.15 after Hindenburg Researched released a negative short-seller report on the company.

Wah Fu Education Group Limited WAFU was down, falling 25% to $5.15 after jumping more than 112% on Monday.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.9% to $40.18, while gold traded down 0.1% to $1,926.40.

Silver traded down 0.7% Tuesday to $25.10 while copper fell 0.4% to $3.0515.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.2%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.2%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.4%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 declined 0.4%, French CAC 40 slipped 0.4% and London’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.4%.

The UK unemployment rate rose to 4.5% in the three months to August compared to 4.1% in the prior period, while labor productivity declined 2% in the second quarter, versus a preliminary estimate of a 2.5% drop. The UK government also announced new restrictions to contain the rise in coronavirus cases. Consumer prices in Germany declined the most since 2015, falling 0.2% year-over-year in September.

Economics

The NFIB small business optimism index climbed to 104 in September versus 100.2 in August.

Annual inflation rate in the US rose to 1.4% in September 1.3% in August.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index rose 0.4% for the first week of October versus September.

The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin is set to speak at 12:25 p.m. ET.

The U.S. Treasury budget statement for September is scheduled for release at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly will speak at 8:25 p.m. ET.