Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Tumbles 300 Points; COMPASS Pathways Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded down 1.11% to 27591.20 while the NASDAQ fell 1.68% to 10,727.08. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.42% to 3,309.30.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 6,676,410 cases with around 197,650 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 5,214,670 confirmed cases and 84,370 deaths, while Brazil reported over 4,455,380 COVID-19 cases with 134,930 deaths. In total, there were at least 30,205,220 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 946,670 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Financial shares slipped by just 0.1% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Western New England Bancorp, Inc. WNEB, up 9%, and Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. LOB, up 7%.

In trading on Friday, information technology shares tumbled 2.1%.

Top Headline

US consumer sentiment increase in September, with the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index climbing to 78.9 versus 74.1 in August.

Economists were expecting a reading of 75.9 for September.

 

Equities Trading UP

Cassava Sciences, Inc. SAVA shares shot up 35% to $9.54 following news of two insiders buying stock Thursday even for a total of about 225,000 shares.

Shares of COMPASS Pathways PLC ADR CMPS got a boost, shooting 42% to $24.13 after the company priced its IPO at $17 per share.

Westport Fuel Systems Inc. WPRT shares were also up, gaining 36% to $2.21 after the company announced its Weichai Westport joint venture received certification from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China for its 12-liter engine equipped with the HPDI 2.0 fuel system.


Equities Trading DOWN

BioVie Inc. BIVI shares tumbled 20% to $10.00 after the company reported the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 1,565,200 shares at $10.00 per share.

Shares of Adamis Pharmaceuticals Corporation ADMP were down 8% to $0.7290 after the company announced pricing of offering of common stock at $0.62 per share.

IsoRay, Inc. ISR was down, falling 20% to $0.6203. IsoRay reported a loss for the fourth quarter, while sales missed expectations.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 0.4% to $40.79, while gold traded up 0.6% to $1,962.00.

Silver traded up 0.1% Friday to $27.110 while copper rose 1% to $3.1030.


Euro zone


European shares closed lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.66%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 2.21%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dropped 1.09%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 declined 0.7%, French CAC 40 dropped 1.22% and London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.71%.

Retail sales in the UK climbed for the fourth consecutive month, rising 0.8% in August. German producer prices fell for the seventh straight month, declining 1.2% year-over-year in August.


Economics

The current account deficit increased by 52.9% to $170.5 billion during the second quarter.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index climbed to 78.9 in September versus 74.1 in August.

The index of leading economic indicators increased 1.2% for August, versus analysts’ estimates for a 1.3% rise.

The total number of active U.S. oil rigs slipped by 1 to 179 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported.

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Date
ticker
name
Actual EPS
EPS Surprise
Actual Rev
Rev Surprise
Posted In: EarningsNewsPenny StocksEurozoneCommoditiesGlobalIntraday UpdateMarketsMid-Afternoon Market Update
Benzinga simplifies the market for smarter investing

Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.

Join Now: Free!

Loading...