Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Nasdaq Rises 50 Points; TS Innovation Acquisitions Shares Surge

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.25% to 30,918.27 while the NASDAQ rose 0.37% to 13,593.25. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.17% to 3,847.82.

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 1.7% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included VivoPower International PLC VVPR, up 25%, and Just Energy Group Inc JE, up 20%.

In trading on Monday, energy shares fell 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 43% to $14.80. 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 31% to $4.5999 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 57% to $7.85. 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 22% to $26.27 after the company priced its 10 million ADS offering at $25 per ADS.

Shares of Vinco Ventures, Inc. BBIG were down 19% to $3.94. 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 $2.9750 after the company priced its 7.88 million share common stock purchase at $3.1925 per share.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.5% to $52.53, while gold traded down 0.1% to $1,855.80.

Silver traded down 0.4% Monday to $25.46 while copper rose 0.1% to $3.6290.

Euro zone

European shares closed 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.