Mid-Day Market Update: Nasdaq Jumps Over 100 Points; Astra Space Shares Plunge

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.10% to 35,490.10 while the NASDAQ rose 0.85% to 15,258.38. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.59% to 4,536.02.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 38,798,960 cases with around 637,530 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 32,737,930 cases and 438,210 deaths, while Brazil reported over 20,741,810 COVID-19 cases with 579,300 deaths. In total, there were at least 216,465,710 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 4,502,260 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer discretionary shares gained 1.1% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Vinco Ventures, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBIG), up 50% and Aterian, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATER) up 18%.

In trading on Monday, financial shares fell by 0.8%.

Top Headline

Catalent, Inc. (NYSE:CTLT) reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its second quarter on Friday. The company also announced plans to acquire Bettera, a gummy manufacturer, for $1 billion.

Catalent posted quarterly adjusted earnings of $1.16 per share, missing market estimates of $1.03 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $1.19 billion, versus estimates of $1.14 billion. Catalent said it sees FY22 sales of $4.30 billion to $4.50 billion, versus analysts’ estimates of $3.94 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Vinco Ventures, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBIG) shares shot up 47% to $7.78 on abnormally high volume amid increasing interest in the stock from retail traders.

Shares of Globalstar, Inc. (NYSE:GSAT) got a boost, shooting 37% to $1.9522 following a note sent out by popular Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) analyst Ming Chi-Kuo that the technology giant could partner with Globalstar on bringing low-earth-orbit satellite communications functionality in the highly-anticipated iPhone 13

Affirm Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFRM) shares were also up, gaining 41% to $96.05 after the company on Friday announced a partnership with Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) allowing customers to purchase items with an installment plan.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Astra Space, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTR) shares tumbled 22% to $9.16 after the company announced its LV0006 launch vehicle failed to properly launch.

Shares of 22nd Century Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:XXII) were down 15% to $3.3619. 22nd Century Group announced entry into the global specialty hops market.

ADTRAN, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADTN) was down, falling 15% to $20.86. ADTRAN and ADVA announced combination through all-stock transaction.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.1% to $68.76, while gold traded down 0.3% to $1,814.30.

Silver traded down 0.3% Monday to $24.00 while copper rose 1.3% to $4.3860.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.06%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.59% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.19%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.32%, French CAC 40 rose 0.1% and Italy’s FTSE MIB declined 0.05%.

The economic sentiment indicator in the Eurozone declined to 117.5 in August versus an all-time high of 119.0 a month ago, while industry confidence indicator declined to 13.7 from 14.5. The consumer confidence indicator in the Eurozone was confirmed at -5.3 for August. Spain's consumer price inflation increased to 3.3% year-over-year in August from 2.9% in the prior month.

Economics

Pending home sales dropped 8.5% year-over-year in July.

The Dallas Fed manufacturing index declined to 9.0 in August from 27.3 in the prior month.

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

Check out the full economic calendar here