Mid-Day Market Update: Dow Tumbles 200 Points; AMC Entertainment Shares Spike Higher

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.67% to 30,788.82 while the NASDAQ fell 0.13% to 13,525.93. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.29% to 3,830.37.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 25,127,570 cases with around 419,220 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 10,667,730 confirmed cases and 153,470 deaths, while Brazil reported over 8,844,570 COVID-19 cases with 217,030 deaths. In total, there were at least 99,245,800 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 2,130,650 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares gained by 1.4% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included VivoPower International PLC VVPR, up 18%, and Just Energy Group Inc JE, up 17%.

In trading on Monday, energy shares fell 2.2%.

Top Headline

Kimberly Clark Corp KMB reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter. The company also announced a $5 billion buyback program and raised its quarterly dividend from $1.07 to $1.14 per share.

Kimberly-Clark reported quarterly earnings of $1.69 per share, beating analysts’ expectations of $1.61 per share. The company posted revenue of $4.80 billion, versus estimates of $4.71 billion.

Kimberly-Clark said it expects FY21 adjusted earnings of $7.75 to $8.00 per share, versus analysts’ estimates of $7.77 per share.

Equities Trading UP

TS Innovation Acquisitions Corp. TSIA shares shot up 44% to $14.93. Enterprise SaaS platform Latch is going public through a SPAC merger with TS Innovation Acquisition. The Tishman Speyer-sponsored SPAC has a long-term existing collaboration with Latch.

Shares of AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. AMC got a boost, shooting 25% to $4.39 after the movie theater company said it has successfully raised nearly $1 billion in fresh capital since December. AMC said in a press release it raised or signed commitment letters to receive $917 million of new equity and debt capital. The capital infusion will allow the company to "make it through this dark coronavirus-impacted winter."

Orbital Energy Group, Inc. OEG shares were also up, gaining 34% to $6.70. Orbital Energy Group’s subsidiary, Orbital Solar Services, has been named the engineering, procurement, and construction company "of choice" for the newly-formed Black Sunrise Half Century Fund.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

ReneSola Ltd SOL shares tumbled 21% to $26.38 after the company priced its 10 million ADS offering at $25 per ADS.

Shares of Vinco Ventures, Inc. BBIG were down 22% to $3.82. Vinco Ventures, along with its subsidiary, Vinco Acquisition Corporation, last week, entered into an agreement to complete a plan of merger agreement with ZASH Global Media And Entertainment.

Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. RKDA was down, falling 14% to $2.9550 after the company priced its 7.88 million share common stock purchase at $3.1925 per share.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.2% to $52.37, while gold traded down 0.1% to $1,854.20.

Silver traded down 0.4% Monday to $25.45 while copper fell 0.1% to $3.6210.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.83%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.73% and the German DAX 30 dropped 1.66%. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 fell 1.57%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.84% and Italy’s FTSE MIB dipped 1.6%.

German Ifo business climate indicator declined to 90.1 in January versus a revised reading of 92.2 in the earlier month.

Economics

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index climbed to 0.52 in December versus a revised reading of 0.31 in November.

The Dallas Fed manufacturing index declined to 7 in January versus a revised reading of 10.5 in December.

The Treasury will auction 2-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Check out the full economic calendar here