Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Down; Kohl's Earnings Top Expectations

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.70% to 35,678.02 while the NASDAQ fell 0.36% to 15,863.49. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.24% to 4,677.46.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 48,287,920 cases with around 787,980 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 34,478,510 cases and 464,620 deaths, while Brazil reported over 21,977,660 COVID-19 cases with 611,890 deaths. In total, there were at least 255,882,770 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 5,142,170 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer discretionary shares gained by 0.7% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Macy's, Inc. M, up 16% and Victoria's Secret & Co. VSCO up 13%.

In trading on Thursday, energy shares fell 1.3%.

Top Headline

Kohl's Corporation KSS reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter and raised its FY21 outlook.

Kohl's posted quarterly earnings of $1.65 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $0.64 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $4.60 billion, versus expectations of $4.27 billion.

Kohl's raised its FY21 earnings guidance from $5.80-$6.10 per share to $7.10-$7.30 per share. The company also boosted its sales growth expectations from low-twenties percentage range to mid-twenties percentage range.

Equities Trading UP

Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, Inc. DRNA shares shot up 79% to $38.00. Novo Nordisk A/S NVO agreed to acquire Dicerna Pharmaceuticals for $38.25 per share in cash, representing a total equity value of $3.3 billion and a premium of 80% to Dicerna's closing price on November 17, 2021.

Shares of Longeveron Inc. LGVN got a boost, shooting 76% to $5.14. Longeveron said the FDA granted rare pediatric disease designation for the company’s Lomecel-B for the treatment of hypoplastic left heart syndrome.

Virtuoso Acquisition Corp. VOSO shares were also up, gaining 25% to $12.67. Virtuoso Acquisition’s stockholders recently approved proposed merger with Wejo.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Zhangmen Education Inc. ZME shares tumbled 30% to $1.46 after jumping more than 38% on Wednesday.

Shares of Amtech Systems, Inc. ASYS were down 27% to $11.11 after the company reported downbeat Q4 results and issued weak Q1 sales forecast.

Williams Industrial Services Group Inc. WLMS was down, falling 20% to $3.6950 after the company posted weak Q3 results and lowered FY21 revenue guidance.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.6% to $77.88, while gold traded down 0.3% to $1,865.00.

Silver traded down 0.4% Thursday to $25.08 while copper fell 0.5% to $4.2445.

Euro zone

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

Passenger car registrations in the European Union tumbled 30.3% year-over-year to 665,001 units in October.

Economics

US initial jobless claims dropped by 1,000 to 268,000 in the week ended November 13.

The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index increased to 39 in November from 23.8 in October.

The index of leading economic indicators rose 0.9% for October.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The Kansas City Fed manufacturing index for November will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET.

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

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans is set to speak at 2:00 p.m. ET.

San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly will speak at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Check out the full economic calendar here