Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Jumps Over 600 Points; NeuroMetrix Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 1.83% to 34,583.56 while the NASDAQ rose 1.74% to 14,523.41. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.70% to 4,330.82.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 34,133,830 cases with around 609,260 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 31,174,320 cases and 414,480 deaths, while Brazil reported over 19,391,840 COVID-19 cases with 542,750 deaths. In total, there were at least 191,010,440 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 4,098,560 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Industrials shares climbed 2.7% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Williams Industrial Services Group Inc. WLMS, up 12%, and Orbital Energy Group, Inc. OEG, up 11%.

In trading on Tuesday, consumer staples shares rose by just 0.1%.

Top Headline

Philip Morris International Inc. PM reported better-than-expected earnings for its second quarter, while sales missed views.

Phillip Morris reported quarterly adjusted earnings of $1.57 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.55 per share. The company’s revenue came in at $7.59 billion, versus expectations of $7.67 billion.

Phillip Morris said it now expects FY21 adjusted EPS of $5.79 to $5.89.

 

Equities Trading UP

HCA Healthcare, Inc. HCA shares shot up 15% to $249.34 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 results. The company also raised its FY21 EPS and sales guidance.

Shares of NeuroMetrix, Inc. NURO got a boost, shooting 152% to $8.23. NeuroMetrix’s Quell device received Breakthrough Designation from the FDA to treat fibromyalgia symptoms in adults.

Immunome, Inc. IMNM shares were also up, gaining 17% to $19.50 after the company reported the pre-clinical testing results of its antibody cocktail. Immunome announced that its three-antibody cocktail, IMM-BCP-01, demonstrated neutralizing activity against the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant. The company also said that IMM-BCP-01 showed in-vitro activity via non-neutralizing mechanisms.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Ardelyx, Inc. ARDX shares tumbled 74% to $2.00 after the company announced it received an FDA letter regarding the NDA for tenapanor indicating deficiencies that preclude discussion of labeling and post-marketing requirements/commitments at this time. Piper Sandler and Wedbush downgraded the stock to Neutral.

Shares of Intrusion Inc. INTZ were down 51% to $4.1701 after the company said CEO Jack B. Blount has left the company. The company also reported weak preliminary sales for the second quarter.

Datasea Inc. DTSS was down, falling 37% to $2.78 after the company priced 2.437 million shares at $3.48 per share.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.7% to $67.55, while gold traded up 0.1% to $1,810.50.

Silver traded down 0.6% Tuesday to $25.00 while copper rose 1.5% to $4.2660.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.52%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.68% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.55%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.54%, French CAC 40 surged 0.81% and Italy’s FTSE MIB gained 0.59%.

German producer prices increased 8.5% year-over-year in June compared to a 7.2% rise in the prior month. The Eurozone recorded a current account surplus of EUR 4.3 billion in May versus a EUR 0.7 billion deficit in the year-ago month.

Economics

US housing starts surged 6.3% to an annual rate of 1.643 million in June, while building permits fell 5.1% to an annual rate of 1.598 million.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index jumped 14.5% year-over-year during the first two weeks of July.

Check out the full economic calendar here