Mid-Day Market Update: Nasdaq Down 200 Points; Blueknight Shares Spike Higher

U.S. stocks extended losses midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite dropping 200 points on Friday.

The Dow traded down 1.65% to 34,218.20 while the NASDAQ fell 1.52% to 12,974. The S&P also fell, dropping, 1.65% to 4,321.09.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares fell by just 0.3% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Blueknight Energy Partners, L.P. BKEP, up 39% and Ardmore Shipping Corporation ASC up 8%.

In trading on Friday, health care shares dipped by 2.8%.

Top Headline

Verizon Communications Inc. VZ reported in-line earnings for its first quarter on Friday.

Verizon Communications posted adjusted earnings of $1.35 per share, in-line with analysts’ estimates. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $33.60 billion, versus expectations of $33.54 billion.

Verizon said it sees FY22 adjusted EPS guidance at the lower end of its previously issued $5.40-$5.55 range. The company also expects adjusted EBITDA growth at the lower end of 2-3% range.

Equities Trading UP

Blueknight Energy Partners, L.P. BKEP shares shot up 39% to $4.56 after the company announced it will be acquired by its general partner Ergon.

Shares of Moving iMage Technologies, Inc. MITQ got a boost, shooting 34% to $1.54 after the company and SNDBX announced a strategic partnership to bring the full theatre experience to the gaming and e-Sports market.

Chindata Group Holdings Limited CD shares were also up, gaining 18% to $5.17 after Bloomberg reported the company had received early takeover interest from other companies in the industry.

Equities Trading DOWN

HCA Healthcare, Inc. HCA shares tumbled 17% to $223.50 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q1 adjusted EPS results and cut FY22 guidance.

Shares of SCYNEXIS, Inc. SCYX were down 24% to $2.3850. SCYNEXIS announced interim data from its ongoing Phase 3 FURI and CARES studies of ibrexafungerp in severe fungal infections. The company also reported pricing of $45 million public offering of common stock, pre-funded warrants and warrants.

The Gap, Inc. GPS was down, falling 18% to $11.77 after the company said Nancy Green, CEO and president of its largest brand, Old Navy, is departing this week. Gap also lowered its quarterly forecast.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.7% to $102.08, while gold traded down 0.4% to $1,940.80.

Silver traded down 1.3% Friday to $24.31 while copper fell 1.1% to $4.6535.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 1.62%, London’s FTSE 100 slipped 1.13%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 1.37%. The German DAX fell 2.11%, French CAC 40 fell 1.8% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 1.96%.

The S&P Global Eurozone manufacturing PMI slipped to 55.3 in April from 56.5 in March, while services PMI surprisingly rose to 57.7 from 55.6. The Euro Area current account surplus narrowed to EUR 11.4 billion in February from EUR 23.3 billion in the year-ago month.

The S&P Global/CIPS UK services PMI fell to 58.3 in April from 62.6 in the prior month, while manufacturing PMI rose to 55.3 in April from 55.2. Retail sales in the UK slipped 1.4% from a month ago in March. Germany’s composite PMI dropped to 54.5 in April from 55.1 in March, while French composite PMI climbed to 57.5 in April from 56.3 a month ago.

Economics

The S&P Global Services PMI dropped to 54.7 in April from 58 in March, while manufacturing PMI rose to 59.7 in April from 58.8 in March.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.

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COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 82,553,050 cases with around 1,017,600 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 43,052,420 cases and 522,110 deaths, while Brazil reported over 30,330,620 COVID-19 cases with 662,550 deaths. In total, there were at least 507,935,700 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,236,930 deaths.