Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Surges 900 Points; cbdMD Shares Rise On Strong Earnings

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded up 3.8% to 24,586.28 while the NASDAQ rose 2.59% to 9,248.20. The S&P also rose, gaining 3.28% to 2,957.57.

The U.S. is the new epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic with the highest number of cases and deaths around the world. U.S. reported a total of 1,486,740 coronavirus cases with around 89,560 deaths. Britain confirmed a total of over 244,990 coronavirus cases with 34,710 deaths, while Russia reported a total of at least 290,670 confirmed cases and 2,720 deaths. In total, there were at least 4,730,960 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 315,480 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed by 7.1% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Oasis Midstream Partners LP OMP, up 75%, and Crescent Point Energy Corp. CPG, up 35%.

In trading on Monday, health care shares rose by just 1.4%.

Top Headline

International Game Technology PLC IGT reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter, while sales missed views.

International Game Technology reported first-quarter earnings of 8 cents per share, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of 4 cents. The company reported quarterly sales of $940.00 million, which missed the analyst consensus estimate of $1.01 billion.

International Game Technology withdrew its 2020 guidance and said it has identified $500 million of cost savings for 2020.

Equities Trading UP

Aurora Cannabis Inc. ACB shares shot up 58% to $17.65. Aurora Cannabis shares jumped 69% on Friday after the company reported a rise in Q3 sales.

Shares of ALJ Regional Holdings, Inc. ALJJ got a boost, shooting 63% to $0.52 after reporting Q2 results. ALJ Regional’s quarterly sales rose to $96.00 million from $87.996 million.

cbdMD, Inc. YCBD shares were also up, gaining 65% to $1.60 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 earnings.

Equities Trading DOWN

Midatech Pharma plc MTP shares tumbled 40% to $1.5350 after the company posted unaudited headline results for the year ended 31 December 2019 and reported a $3.0 million registered direct offering.

Shares of Forescout Technologies, Inc. FSCT were down 24% to $22.57 after Advent notified the company that it will not be proceeding to consummate the acquisition of ForeScout Technologies on May 18th, 2020, as scheduled. Both companies are still discussing the terms.

Centric Brands Inc. CTRC was down, falling 57% to $0.4029 after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 7.3% to $31.57, while gold traded down 1.3% to $1,733.50.

Silver traded up 2.4% Monday to $17.48, while copper rose 3.4% to $2.4095.

Euro zone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 4.07%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 4.70%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 3.26%. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 5.67%, and the French CAC 40 gained 5.16% while UK shares rose 4.29%.

Economics

The NAHB housing market index climbed to 37 in May, versus a reading of 30 in April.