Mid-Day Market Update: NASDAQ Turns Lower; MoneyGram International Shares Jump

Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.47% to 25595.48 while the NASDAQ fell 0.54% to 9500.51. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.12% to 3059.36.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 1,811,270 cases with around 105,140 deaths. Brazil confirmed a total of over 526,440 COVID-19 cases with 29,930 deaths, while Russia reported a total of at least 423,180 confirmed cases and 5,030 deaths. In total, there were at least 6,288,160 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 375,980 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares rose 2.2% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Baytex Energy Corp. BTE, up 9%, and Gulfport Energy Corporation GPOR, up 9%.

In trading on Tuesday, communication services shares fell 0.6%.

Top Headline

Donaldson Company, Inc. DCI reported upbeat earnings for its third quarter, while sales missed views.

Donaldson posted quarterly earnings of $0.50 per share, exceeding analysts’ estimates of $0.46 per share. The company reported sales of $629.70 million, missing the consensus views of $644.02 million.

Equities Trading UP

MoneyGram International, Inc. MGI shares shot up 37% to $3.5375 as Bloomberg reported that Western Union WU is looking to acquire the payments company.

Shares of Tenax Therapeutics, Inc. TENX got a boost, shooting 32% to $1.9201 after the company reported results from its Phase 2 trial of Levosimendan. The trial demonstrated a significant reduction in right atrial and pulmonary capillary wedge pressures.

BioHiTech Global, Inc. BHTG shares were also up, gaining 26% to $1.41 after the company reported that it entered into an agreement to distribute Altapure high-level disinfectant technology that can effectively kill the coronavirus.

Equities Trading DOWN

Kaleido Biosciences, Inc. KLDO shares tumbled 15% to $6.79 after the company priced its 4.75 million share public offering of common stock at $7.50 per share.

Shares of Seadrill Limited SDRL were down 18% to $0.38 after the company reported downbeat Q1 earnings.

Digital Ally, Inc. DGLY was down, falling 14% to $1.69 after the company priced its 3.09 million share common stock offering at $1.65 per share. Digital Ally shares jumped over 75% on Monday.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 2% to $36.12, while gold traded down 0.1% to $1,749.80.

Silver traded down 1.4% Tuesday to $18.57, while copper rose 0.7% to $2.4885.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 1.7%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 2.62%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 2.68%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 gained 3.75%, French CAC 40 rose 2.14% and UK shares rose 1.05%.

Economics

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index declined 1.4% during the first four weeks of May versus April.