Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Flat; MSC Industrial Direct Tops Q3 Views

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.01% to 34,581.04 while the NASDAQ rose 0.06% to 14,671.71. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.08% to 4,347.22.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 33,748,690 cases with around 605,930 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 30,663,660 cases and 404,210 deaths, while Brazil reported over 18,855,010 COVID-19 cases with 526,890 deaths. In total, there were at least 184,692,740 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 3,995,310 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares jumped by 0.4% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included SMART Global Holdings, Inc. SGH, up 15%, and JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. JKS, up 11%.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell 1.4%.

Top Headline

MSC Industrial Direct Co Inc MSM reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter on Wednesday.

MSC Industrial Direct reported quarterly earnings of $1.42 per share, exceeding analysts’ estimates of $1.37 per share. The company’s sales came in at $866.30 million, versus expectations of $847.22 million.

 

Equities Trading UP

Data Storage Corporation DTST shares shot up 56% to $11.37. Data Storage shares jumped over 24% on Tuesday on above-average volume.

Shares of Newegg Commerce, Inc. NEGG got a boost, shooting 56% to $42.47 after jumping around 42% on Tuesday.

OncoSec Medical Incorporated ONCS shares were also up, gaining 51% to $4.23 after the company said it will evaluate its DNA-plasmid interleukin-12 (IL-12) TAVO (tavokinogene telseplasmid) with Merck & Co’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in KEYNOTE-C87 Phase 3 trial..

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Bridgeline Digital, Inc. BLIN shares tumbled 29% to $8.67. Bridgeline Digital reported that a global footwear brand's Indonesian subsidiary chose the company’s Celebros search for online experience.

Shares of BSQUARE Corporation BSQR were down 25% to $5.27. On July 6, 2021, software solutions provider BSQUARE entered into a Side Letter with B. Riley Securities, Inc to sell shares having an aggregate offering price of up to $50 million under the company’s Form S-3 filed on March 18.

Marin Software Incorporated MRIN was down, falling 24% to $18.46 after gaining 19% on Tuesday amid continued extreme volatility and volume in the stock from investors following the company's Instacart Ads integration announcement..

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.6% to $74.52, while gold traded up 0.7% to $1,807.30.

Silver traded up 1.3% Wednesday to $26.515 while copper rose 2% to $4.3365.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.6%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.1% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.8%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.7%, French CAC 40 rose 0.1% and Italy’s FTSE MIB gained 0.4%.

The European Commission increased its Eurozone GDP projections for 2021 and 2022. House prices in the UK surged 8.8% year-over-year in June following a revised 9.6% increase in the previous month. German industrial output unexpectedly fell 0.3% in May.

France recorded a trade deficit of EUR 6.80 billion for May, while current account deficit increased to EUR 2.3 billion in May from a revised level of EUR 2.0 billion in the prior month.

Economics

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index surged 19.4% year-over-year during the week ended July 3.

The number of job openings climbed to a fresh record high of 9.209 million in May from a revised reading of 9.193 million in April.

The Federal Open Market Committee will issue minutes of its latest meeting at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is set to speak at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Check out the full economic calendar here