Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Jumps 270 Points; Hertz Global Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.94% to 28,764 while the NASDAQ rose 0.37% to 11,756.61. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.60% to 3,504.26.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 7,980,890 cases with around 217,710 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 7,370,460 confirmed cases and 112,160 deaths, while Brazil reported over 5,169,380 COVID-19 cases with 152,460 deaths. In total, there were at least 38,971,790 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 1,098,980 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares rose 1.4% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Ormat Technologies, Inc. ORA, up 4%, and Artesian Resources Corporation ARTNA, up 3%.

In trading on Friday, energy shares fell 1.4%.

Top Headline

Schlumberger NV SLB reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter, while sales missed view.

Schlumberger reported quarterly earnings of $0.16 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $0.12 per share. The company posted sales of $5.26 billion, missing expectations of $5.38 billion.

Equities Trading UP

SG Blocks, Inc. SGBX shares shot up 43% to $2.89 after the company and Blink entered into an exclusive Master Development and Production Agreement pursuant to which Blink's EV charging solutions will be deployed along with SG Blocks' container-based modular building structures.

Shares of CIT Group Inc. CIT got a boost, shooting 26% to $24.93 after the company reported strong Q3 sales. The company also announced an all-stock merger with First Citizens BancShares.

Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. HTZ shares were also up, gaining 156% to $2.64 after the company announced it secured commitments of $1.65 billion in debtor-in-possession financing.

 

Equities Trading DOWN

Calyxt, Inc. CLXT shares tumbled 23% to $3.8860. Calyxt priced 3.75 million shares at $4 per share.

Shares of Biomerica, Inc. BMRA were down 19% to $5.94 following Q1 results. Biomerica posted a quarterly loss of $0.14 per share.

Del Taco Restaurants, Inc. TACO was down, falling 19% to $8.40 after the company announced Q3 earnings results.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.5% to $40.74, while gold traded down 0.2% to $1,905.30.

Silver traded up 0.6% Friday to $24.38 while copper fell 0.7% to $3.0650.

Euro zone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 1.26%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.48%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 1.7%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 climbed 1.62%, French CAC 40 surged 2.03% and London’s FTSE 100 gained 1.49%.

Germany's car registrations grew 5.6% month-over-month in September, while French car registrations grew 62.4% month-over-month.

Economics

U.S. retail sales rose 1.9% for September, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.7% increase.

U.S. industrial production declined 0.6% for September, versus analysts’ estimates of 0.5% rise.

U.S. business inventories increased 0.3% in August, versus a 0.1% increase in July.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index rose to 81.2 in October versus 80.4 in September.

The total number of active U.S. oil rigs rose by 12 to 205 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported.

The Treasury International Capital report for August is schedule for release at 4:00 p.m. ET.