Benzinga | Oct 29, 2020 02:34PM EDT

Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Surges Over 300 Points; Inphi Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 1.25% to 26,851.36 while the NASDAQ rose 2.45% to 11,275.03. The S&P also rose, gaining 2.02% to 3,337.20.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 8,859,430 cases with around 227,700 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 8,040,200 confirmed cases and 120,520 deaths, while Brazil reported over 5,468,270 COVID-19 cases with 158,450 deaths. In total, there were at least 44,583,820 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 1,175,680 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares climbed 2.7% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS), up 28%, and Entercom Communications Corp. (NYSE:ETM), up 20%.

In trading on Thursday, health care shares fell 0.2%.

Top Headline

Kraft Heinz Co (NASDAQ:KHC) reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter.

Kraft Heinz reported quarterly earnings of $0.70 per share, beating analysts' estimates of $0.62 per share. The company posted sales of $6.44 billion, surpassing expectations of $6.31 billion.

Kraft Heinz raised its FY20 organic net sales growth guidance to high single digit range.



Equities Trading UP

Universal Security Instruments, Inc. (NYSE:UUU) shares shot up 62% to $3.26 after the company announced it received a letter from 9.9% stakeholder Activist Investing threatening shareholder action to prevent delisting and bankruptcy.

Shares of Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS) got a boost, shooting 29% to $63.46 after the company reported better-than-projected Q3 results. MKM Partners and JP Morgan upgraded the stock.

Inphi Corporation (NASDAQ:IPHI) shares were also up, gaining 26% to $140.30 after the company reported better-than-expected Q3 earnings and also issued strong Q4 guidance. Marvell Technology Group announced plans to buy Inphi in a cash and stock transaction.





Equities Trading DOWN

Tricida, Inc. (NASDAQ:TCDA) shares tumbled 49% to $4.23 as the company issued an update from end-of-review Type A meeting with the FDA.

Shares of Cancer Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CGIX) were down 34% to $2.2550 after the company announced a $2 million bought deal offering priced at $2.20 per share.

Blue Apron Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:APRN) was down, falling 27% to $4.78 after the company reported Q3 results and issued weak Q4 sales guidance.





Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 3.1% to $36.24, while gold traded down 0.6% to $1,868.90.

Silver traded up 0.1% Thursday to $23.39 while copper fell 0.1% to $3.0605.

Euro zone

European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.12%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.97%, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index declined 0.14%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 gained 0.32%, French CAC 40 fell 0.03% and London's FTSE 100 slipped 0.02%.

German unemployment rate came in unchanged at 4.5% in September from the previous month.



Economics

The US economy expanded by an annualized rate of 33.1% in the third quarter, versus analysts' expectations for a 31% growth.

US initial jobless claims fell to 751,000 in the week ended October 24, versus revised reading of 791,000 in the previous week.

Pending home sales climbed 20.5% year-over-year in September.

Domestic supplies of natural gas increase 29 billion cubic feet for the week ended October 23, the Energy Information Administration said.

Data on money supply for the latest week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.