Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Dips Over 800 Points; HCA Healthcare Shares Plunge

U.S. stocks extended losses toward the end of trading, with the Dow Jones dropping more than 800 points on Friday.

The Dow traded down 2.42% to 33,949.34 while the NASDAQ fell 2.30% to 12,871.26. The S&P also fell, dropping, 2.44% to 4,286.50.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares fell by just 0.7% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Huaneng Power International, Inc. HNP, up 8% and ReNew Energy Global plc RNW up 3%.

In trading on Friday, materials shares dipped by 3.5%.

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 $4.57 after the company announced it will be acquired by its general partner Ergon.

Shares of Moving iMage Technologies, Inc. MITQ got a boost, shooting 37% to $1.5757 after the company and SNDBX announced a strategic partnership to bring the full theatre experience to the gaming and e-Sports market.

A10 Networks, Inc. ATEN shares were also up, gaining 11% to $14.64 after it was announced the company is set to join the S&P SmallCap 600.

Equities Trading DOWN

HCA Healthcare, Inc. HCA shares tumbled 21% to $213.76 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q1 adjusted EPS results and cut FY22 guidance.

Shares of SCYNEXIS, Inc. SCYX were down 24% to $2.4001. 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 $11.66 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 1.9% to $101.85, while gold traded down 0.7% to $1,935.40.

Silver traded down 1.2% Friday to $24.32 while copper fell 2.6% to $4.5810.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 1.79%, London’s FTSE 100 slipped 1.39%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 1.84%. The German DAX fell 2.48%, French CAC 40 fell 1.99% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 2.12%.

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 total number of active U.S. oil rigs rose by 1 to 549 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported.

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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.