Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Higher; Dick's Sporting Goods Beats Q2 Views

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.07% to 35,389.32 while the NASDAQ rose 0.17% to 15,045.45. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.14% to 4,492.57.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 38,077,520 cases with around 630,830 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 32,512,360 cases and 435,750 deaths, while Brazil reported over 20,614,860 COVID-19 cases with 575,740 deaths. In total, there were at least 213,301,290 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 4,454,810 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Financial shares rose 0.9% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Jiayin Group Inc. JFIN, up 14% and Trustmark Corporation TRMK up 9%.

In trading on Wednesday, health care fell 0.3%.

Top Headline

Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. DKS reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter on Wednesday.

Dick's posted quarterly adjusted earnings of $5.08 per share, exceeding market estimates of $2.70 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $3.27 billion, versus estimates of $2.82 billion. The company also announced a special dividend of $5.50 and plans to increase buybacks to minimum of $400 million.

Dick's said it sees FY21 adjusted earnings of $12.45 to $12.95 per share, versus analysts’ estimates of $9.01 per share. The company expects FY21 sales of $11.52 billion to $11.72 billion, versus expectations of $10.9 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Locust Walk Acquisition Corp. LWAC shares shot up 220% to $28.16 after the company announced stockholders approved a business combination with eFFECTOR Therapeutics to create a next-generation oncology company developing a new class of cancer therapies.

Shares of Regencell Bioscience Holdings Limited RGC got a boost, shooting 110% to $32.13 after gaining over 11% on Tuesday. Regencell Bioscience recently reported partial exercise of underwriter’s over-allotment option.

ScanSource, Inc. SCSC shares were also up, gaining 17% to $35.91 after the company reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Cassava Sciences, Inc. SAVA shares tumbled 28% to $85.16 on negative claims that were posted online yesterday after market hours. The company issued a response to the claims today, saying they believe the claims regarding scientific integrity are false and misleading.

Shares of Nordstrom, Inc. JWN were down 18% to $31.18. Nordstrom, reported upbeat earnings for its second quarter and also boosted its annual revenue guidance. However, the company’s quarterly revenue slipped 6% compared to pre-pandemic levels. JP Morgan downgraded Nordstrom from Neutral to Underweight and announced a $34 price target.

111, Inc. YI was down, falling 16% to $6.76 after climbing over 30% on Tuesday.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.2% to $67.64, while gold traded down 0.8% to $1,794.50.

Silver traded down 0.6% Wednesday to $23.750 while copper rose 0.7% to $4.2885.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.1%, the Spanish Ibex Index gained 0.3% and the German DAX 30 dropped 0.1%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.2%, French CAC 40 rose 0.2% and Italy’s FTSE MIB fell 0.1%.

Producer prices in Spain surged 15.3% year-over-year in July. The Ifo Business Climate indicator for Germany declined to a three-month low level of 99.4 in August.

Economics

US durable goods orders dropped 0.1% in July following a 0.8% growth in the previous month.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly is set to speak at 1:00 p.m. ET.

The Treasury is set to auction 5-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Check out the full economic calendar here