Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Eagle Bancorp Drops After Q2 Results; Outlook Therapeutics Shares Gain

Toward the end of trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.04% to 27208.63 while the NASDAQ rose 0.09% to 8,192.56. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.23% to 2,991.30.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer staples shares rose 0.9% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Neptune Wellness Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: NEPT), up 20%, and Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM), up 9%.

In trading on Thursday, communication services shares fell 1.1%.

Top Headline

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) reported better-than-expected earnings for its second quarter.

Morgan Stanley reported second-quarter earnings of $1.23 per share, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.16. The company reported quarterly sales of $10.244 billion, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $10.03 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Exela Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: XELA) shares shot up 19% to $2.4667 after Handson Global Management proposed to acquire all of the outstanding equity in the company.

Shares of Outlook Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: OTLK) got a boost, shooting up 27% to $2.4811 after H.C. Wainwright initiated coverage on the company's stock with a Buy rating and an $8 price target.

Co-Diagnostics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CODX) shares were also up, gaining 40% to $1.25 after the company reported 'favorable' results from its study to detect cancer mutations using its CoPrimer technology.

Equities Trading DOWN

ADTRAN, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADTN) shares tumbled 23% to $12.24 after the company reported preliminary results for the second quarter.

Shares of Insteel Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: IIIN) were down 13% to $18.35 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q3 EPS and sales results.

Eagle Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: EGBN) was down, falling 20% to $42.71 after reporting downbeat Q2 results.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 3.3% to $54.91, while gold traded up 0.7% to $1,433.60.

Silver traded up 1.7% Thursday to $16.24, while copper fell 0.3% to $2.7075.

Euro zone

European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.22%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.63%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.05%. Meanwhile, the German DAX declined 0.92%, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.38% while UK shares fell 0.56%.

Economics

U.S. initial jobless claims rose 8,000 to 216,000 in the latest week. However, economists were expecting a reading of 216,000.

The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index rose to a reading of 21.8 in July, compared to 0.3 in June.

The index of leading economic indicators declined 0.3% for June.

Domestic supplies of natural gas climbed 62 billion cubic feet for the week ended July 12, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. However, economists projected a gain of 65 billion cubic feet.

Data on money supply for the latest week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.