Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Brinker Reports Mixed Q4 Results

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.82% to 27916.32 while the NASDAQ rose 1.64% to 10959.59. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.16% to 3,372.49.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 5,141,870 cases with around 164,530 deaths. Brazil confirmed a total of over 3,057,470 COVID-19 cases with 101,750 deaths, while India reported a total of at least 2,329,630 confirmed cases and 46,090 deaths. In total, there were at least 20,307,860 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 742,030 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares gained 1.7% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings, Inc. LTRPB, up 27%, and Partner Communications Company Ltd. PTNR, up 10%.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares rose by just 0.1%.

Top Headline

Brinker International, Inc. EAT reported a narrower-than-expected loss for its fourth quarter, while sales missed views.

Brinker posted a quarterly loss of $0.88 per share, narrower than analysts’ estimates for a loss of $1.37 per share. The company reported quarterly sales of $563.20 million, missing expectations of $573.63 million.

Brinker said it expects Q1 adjusted loss of $0.40 to $0.25 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Biofrontera AG BFRA shares shot up 46% to $29.70 after climbing over 53% on Tuesday. On Monday, Biofrontera disclosed subscription price for 1.00 % qualified subordinated mandatory convertible bond 2020/2021.

Shares of EyeGate Pharmaceuticals, Inc. EYEG got a boost, shooting 39% to $5.73 after the company announced it has received positive feedback following its pre-IND meeting with the FDA and has been provided a path forward for the development of MoxiGel, a combination product for the treatment of bacterial conjunctivitis.

Cellular Biomedicine Group, Inc. CBMG shares were also up, gaining 35% to $19.27 after the company said it has signed a definitive merger agreement to be acquired by a consortium consisting of the company's management, led by CEO Bizuo Liu, which collectively holds about 51.5% of outstanding shares, and private equity investors, for $19.75 in cash for each outstanding share of common stock.

Equities Trading DOWN

OneSpan Inc. OSPN shares tumbled 31% to $21.41 after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q2 results. Needham lowered the price target on the stock from $31 to $29.

Shares of Jumia Technologies AG JMIA were down 28% to $11.86 after the company reported its Q2 earnings results and reached an agreement to resolve class action lawsuits filed in the US District Court And New York County Supreme Court.

Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. SRNE was down, falling 24% to $10.77 after dropping 25% on Tuesday.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 1.8% to $42.35, while gold traded down 0.2% to $1,941.90.

Silver traded down 0.7% Wednesday to $25.88, while copper fell 0.3% to $2.8675.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.3%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.4%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.8%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 declined 0.1%, French CAC 40 rose 0.4% and UK shares rose 1%.

Economics

US core consumer prices rose 0.6% in July, versus analysts’ expectations for a 0.2% increase.

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 Dallas President Robert Kaplan will speak at 11:00 a.m. ET.

The Treasury is set to auction 10-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

The U.S. Treasury budget report for July is scheduled for release at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly is set to speak at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan will speak at 6:00 p.m. ET.