Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mixed; Moderna Lowers Covid-19 Vaccine Sales Outlook

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.20% to 36,086.70 while the NASDAQ rose 0.83% to 15,942.06. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.40% to 4,679.39.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 47,105,460 cases with around 770,850 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 34,320,140 cases and 459,660 deaths, while Brazil reported over 21,835,780 COVID-19 cases with 608,300 deaths. In total, there were at least 248,961,210 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 5,039,820 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.


Leading and Lagging Sectors


Consumer discretionary shares gained by 1.7% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Etsy, Inc. ETSY, up 14% and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Company HMHC up 16%.


In trading on Thursday, financials shares fell 1.2%.


Top Headline


Moderna MRNA reported weaker-than-expected results for its third quarter and lowered its full-year sales forecast for its covid-19 vaccine.

Moderna posted Q3 adjusted earnings of $7.70 per share, missing analysts’ estimates of $9.05 per share The company’s quarterly sales came in at $4.969 billion, versus expectations of $6.2 billion.

Moderna lowered its full-year sales forecast for its covid-19 vaccine to between $15 billion and $18 billion, versus prior forecast of $20 billion.


Equities Trading UP


Evaxion Biotech A/S EVAX shares shot up 129% to $14.87 after dropping over 10% on Wednesday.


Shares of Cassava Sciences, Inc. SAVA got a boost, shooting 56% to $88.48. Cassava Sciences has been informed by the Journal of Neuroscience that there is no evidence of data manipulation in an article it published in July 2012 describing a new approach to treating Alzheimer's disease.


NeoPhotonics Corporation NPTN shares were also up, gaining 34% to $15.44 after the company agreed to be acquired by Lumentum for $16.00 per share in cash.

Check out these big movers of the day


Equities Trading DOWN

Lightspeed Commerce Inc. LSPD shares tumbled 30% to $69.63 after the company reported Q2 results.


Shares of Rimini Street, Inc. RMNI were down 26% to $8.40 following Q3 results.


Vimeo, Inc. VMEO was down, falling 24% to $26.70 after the company posted Q3 results.


Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.5% to $82.09, while gold traded up 0.8% to $1,778.50.


Silver traded up 2.1% Thursday to $23.725 while copper rose 1.1% to $4.3685.


Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.5%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.5% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.4%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.2%, French CAC 40 rose 0.4% and Italy’s FTSE MIB rose 0.3%.

The IHS Markit Eurozone services PMI was revised lower to 54.6 in October versus a preliminary estimate of 54.7, while composite PMI was revised lower to 54.2 from a preliminary level of 54.3. New car registrations in the UK dropped 24.6% year-over-year to 106,265 units in October.

German services PMI dropped to 52.4 in October from 56.2 in September, while factory orders rose 1.3% in September. France services PMI rose to 56.6 in October from 56.2. Italy’s services PMI declined to 52.4 in October from 55.5 in the earlier month, while Spain services PMI dropped to 56.6 in October.


Economics

US-based employers reported 22,822 job cuts in October.


The US trade deficit widened to a new record high of $80.9 billion in September.


US initial jobless claims fell to 269,000 in the week ending October 30th, from a revised 283,000 in the prior period.


Unit labor costs rose an annualized 8.3% in the third quarter, while nonfarm labor productivity in the US dropped 5.0%.


The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.


The Treasury is set to auction 4-and 8-week bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.


Federal Reserve Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles will speak at 1:50 p.m. ET.

Check out the full economic calendar here

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