Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Lower; 3M Tops Q3 Estimates

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.34% to 27590.67 while the NASDAQ rose 0.14% to 11374.46. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.18% to 3,394.96.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 8,705,120 cases with around 225,730 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 7,946,420 confirmed cases and 119,500 deaths, while Brazil reported over 5,409,850 COVID-19 cases with 157,390 deaths. In total, there were at least 43,571,750 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 1,160,420 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares climbed 0.7% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included DTE Energy Company DTE, up 3%, and Huaneng Power International, Inc. HNP, up 2%.

In trading on Tuesday, energy shares fell 0.9%.

Top Headline

3M Co MMM reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter.

3M reported quarterly earnings of $2.43 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $2.26 per share. The company posted sales of $8.40 billion, missing expectations of $8.29 billion.

 

Equities Trading UP

1847 Goedeker Inc. GOED shares shot up 91% to $13.20. 1847 Goedeker reported the purchase of Appliances Connection for $210 million.

Shares of Scholar Rock Holding Corporation SRRK got a boost, shooting 70% to $23.33 after the company reported proof-of-concept data from TOPAZ Phase 2 trial interim analysis of SRK-015 in patients with Type 2 and Type 3 spinal muscular strophy.

Unifi, Inc. UFI shares were also up, gaining 25% to $16.56 after the company announced first-quarter results.

 

Equities Trading DOWN

Catabasis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. CATB shares tumbled 68% to $1.71 as the company said the Phase 3 PolarisDMD trial of edasalonexent in Duchenne muscular dystrophy did not meet the primary endpoint, which was a change from baseline in the North Star Ambulatory Assessment over one year.
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Shares of Kala Pharmaceuticals, Inc. KALA were down 16% to $6.47. Kala Pharmaceuticals announced the FDA has approved EYSUVIS for the short-term treatment of the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease.

Muscle Maker, Inc. GRIL was down, falling 15% to $1.735. Muscle Maker shares gained 33% on Monday after the company announced it acquired one of its previously franchised-owned locations in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.

 

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.8% to $38.88, while gold traded down 0.1% to $1,905.30.

Silver traded up 0.3% Tuesday to $24.495 while copper rose 0.6% to $3.1090.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.1%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.1%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.1%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 gained 0.1%, French CAC 40 fell 0.5% and London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.2%.

French producer prices rose 0.2% in September, while Spain's unemployment rate increased to 16.26% in the third quarter.

 

Economics

U.S. durable goods orders rose 1.9% for September.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index increased 5.2% year-over-year in August.

The FHFA house price index rose 1.5% in August.

The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index fell to 100.900 in October from prior reading of 101.800.

The Richmond Fed's manufacturing index climbed to 29.000 for October from previous reading of 21.000.

The Treasury is set to auction 2-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.