Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mixed; American Express Earnings Miss Estimates

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 0.01% to 28,363.55 while the NASDAQ fell 0.17% to 11,486.11. However, the S&P rose 0.16% to 3,458.90.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 8,409,310 cases with around 223,050 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 7,761,310 confirmed cases and 117,300 deaths, while Brazil reported over 5,323,630 COVID-19 cases with 155,900 deaths. In total, there were at least 41,759,680 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 1,138,180 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Health care shares climbed 0.6% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Cassava Sciences, Inc. SAVA, up 13%, and Repare Therapeutics Inc. RPTX, up 7%.

In trading on Friday, consumer discretionary shares fell 0.3%.

Top Headline

American Express Company AXP reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its third quarter.

American Express reported quarterly earnings of $1.30 per share, missing analysts’ estimates of $1.33 per share. The company posted sales of $8.75 billion, surpassing expectations of $8.66 billion..

Equities Trading UP

Marin Software Incorporated MRIN shares shot up 52% to $3.22, reversing from Thursday's selloff. The stock has been highly volatile since traders on Wednesday circulated a 2019 MediaPost article titled 'Will Amazon Buy Kenshoo Or Marin Software Following Sizmek Acquisition?'

Shares of CLPS Incorporation CLPS got a boost, shooting 27% to $4.91 as the company reported an increase in profit and sales for the second half of the year.

Ever-Glory International Group, Inc. EVK shares were also up, gaining 24% to $3.22 after jumping over 120% on Thursday.

Equities Trading DOWN

Limelight Networks, Inc. LLNW shares tumbled 28% to $4.465 after the company reported downbeat Q3 earnings and lowered FY20 EPS forecast.

Shares of Iterum Therapeutics plc ITRM were down 44% to $0.53 after the company reported pricing of its $17.5 million upsized public offering.

CyberOptics Corporation CYBE was down, falling 25% to $27.83 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q3 earnings.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.4% to $40.82, while gold traded up 0.4% to $1,911.70.

Silver traded up 0.6% Friday to $24.845 while copper rose 0.1% to $3.1545.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.7%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.2%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 1%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 gained 0.8%, French CAC 40 surged 1.1% and London’s FTSE 100 rose 1.4%.

Eurozone consumer confidence index for October declined to minus 15.5, missing the consensus of minus 15. Europe's October's manufacturing PMI rose to 54.4, beating the consensus of 53.1, The composite PMI declined to 49.4 in October from 50.4 in September, while the services PMI slipped to 46.2.

Economics

The IHS Markit composite PMI rose to 55.5 in October versus 54.3 in the prior month.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.