Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Tumbles 800 Points; Nikola Shares Plummet

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded down 2.9% to 26,854.24 while the NASDAQ fell 1.40% to 10,641.77. The S&P also fell, dropping 2.23% to 3,245.86.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 6,811,690 cases with around 199,510 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 5,487,580 confirmed cases and 87,880 deaths, while Brazil reported over 4,544,620 COVID-19 cases with 136,890 deaths. In total, there were at least 31,079,040 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 960,990 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares slipped by just 0.7% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included CleanSpark, Inc. CLSK, up 15%, and MicroVision, Inc. MVIS, up 12%.

In trading on Monday, energy shares tumbled 4.4%.

Top Headline

Microsoft Corporation MSFT announced its plan to acquire video gaming company ZeniMax Media for $7.5 billion in cash.

ZeniMax Media creates and publishes interactive entertainment content for consoles, PCs, and handheld/wireless devices. ZeniMax Media is also the parent company of Bethesda Softworks the creators of the gaming franchisesThe Elder Scrolls and Fallout.

Equities Trading UP

Cubic Corporation CUB shares shot up 33% to $58.91 after the company reported the adoption of a limited-duration shareholder rights plan.

Shares of VerifyMe, Inc. VRME got a boost, shooting 18% to $3.6950 after the company announced plans to expand its business with multi-billion dollar global consumer products company.

Roku, Inc. ROKU shares were also up, gaining 17% to $187.04 after the company announced a streaming carriage deal with Peacock.


Equities Trading DOWN

Aceto Corporation ACET shares tumbled 31% to $14.81 after the company reported a proposed 4.5 million share public offering of common stock.

Shares of Nikola Corporation NKLA were down 20% to $27.39 after the company’s Founder Trevor Milton stepped down as the company's chairman and board member early Monday morning. The electric truck manufacturer's stock has been under pressure for several weeks following a short seller report from Hindenburg Research.

Condor Hospitality Trust, Inc. CDOR was down, falling 26% to $3.08 after the company reported termination of merger agreement with NHT Operating Partnership.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 4.7% to $39.16, while gold traded down 2.6% to $1,911.50.

Silver traded down 9.5% Monday to $24.540 while copper fell 2.9% to $3.0270.

Euro zone

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 3.24%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 3.43%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dropped 3.75%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 declined 4.37%, French CAC 40 dropped 3.74% and London’s FTSE 100 fell 3.38%.

Spain reported a narrower trade deficit for July, with the trade gap shrinking to EUR 0.31 billion in July versus EUR 2.49 billion in the year-ago month.

Economics

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index fell to 0.79 in August versus a revised reading of 2.54 in the prior month.

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams will speak at 6:00 p.m. ET.

Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan is set to speak at 6:00 p.m. ET.