Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Lower; Korn Ferry Tops Q4 Estimates

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.21% to 33,806.03 while the NASDAQ rose 0.02% to 14,143.63. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.03% to 4,223.54.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 33,554,330 cases with around 602,090 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 29,977,860 cases and 389,300 deaths, while Brazil reported over 17,966,830 COVID-19 cases with 502,580 deaths. In total, there were at least 178,811,880 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 3,873,980 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer discretionary shares rose by 0.3% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Tupperware Brands Corporation TUP, up 14%, and Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. SBH, up 11%.

In trading on Tuesday, financial shares fell 0.6%.

Top Headline

Korn Ferry KFY reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Monday.

Korn Ferry reported quarterly adjusted earnings of $1.21 per share, exceeding analysts’ estimates of $0.98 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $557.40 million, versus expectations of $488.48 million.

Korn Ferry said it sees Q1 earnings of $1.04-$1.14 per share and fee revenue of $535 million to $555 million.

Equities Trading UP

Alfi, Inc. ALF shares shot up 39% to $10.83 following exclusive Benzinga reporting the company will buyback up to $2 million of its stock. Company CEO told Benzinga ALFI's stock is "undervalued based on pipeline projections and identified opportunity."

Shares of Adial Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ADIL got a boost, shooting 19% to $3.42 after the company announced plans to enter genetic testing market following allowance of U.S. patent for genetic diagnostic test.

SharpSpring, Inc. SHSP shares were also up, gaining 21% to $17.09 after the company agreed to be acquired by Constant Contact for $240 million.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

New Concept Energy, Inc. GBR shares tumbled 26% to $6.93 after climbing over 73% on Monday.

Shares of BIT Mining Limited BTCM were down 15% to $6.97. BIT Mining announced the delivery of the first batch of its cryptocurrency mining machines to Kazakhstan.

The9 Limited NCTY was down, falling 13% to $12.70 after dropping 12% on Monday.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.5% to $73.29, while gold traded down 0.1% to $1,782.80.

Silver traded down 0.1% Tuesday to $25.99 while copper fell 0.21% to $4.1760.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.1%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.5% and the German DAX 30 dropped 0.1%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.3%, French CAC 40 fell 0.1% and Italy’s FTSE MIB fell 0.5%.

Public sector net borrowing in the UK declined to GBP 24.3 billion in May. Italy's industrial sales rose 3.3% in April following a revised 1.7% growth rise in March.

Economics

US existing home sales fell 0.9% to an annual rate of 5.8 million in May.

The Richmond Fed's manufacturing index increased to 22 in June from 18 in May.

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

Data on money supply for May will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.