Benzinga | Oct 29, 2020 12:24PM EDT

Mid-Day Market Update: Crude Oil Down 4%; Pinterest Shares Jump On Upbeat Results

Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.02% to 26,526.11 while the NASDAQ rose 1.2% to 11,136.52. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.6% to 3,290.68.

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 2.2% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE:PINS), up 29%, and Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO), up 11%.

In trading on Thursday, health care shares tumbled 1.2%.

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 68% to $3.38 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 28% to $63.20 after the company reported better-than-projected Q3 results. MKM Partners and JP Morgan upgraded the stock.

Rekor Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:REKR) shares were also up, gaining 27% to $4.23. Rekor Systems shares dropped over 30% on Wednesday after the company issued weak Q3preliminary sales results.





Equities Trading DOWN

Tricida, Inc. (NASDAQ:TCDA) shares tumbled 48% to $4.2650 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 35% to $2.23 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 26% to $4.8499 after the company reported Q3 results and issued weak Q4 sales guidance.





Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 4.2% to $35.84, while gold traded down 0.5% to $1,869.80.

Silver traded down 0.1% Thursday to $23.335 while copper fell 0.2% to $3.0595.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 0.08%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.88%, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index declined 0.08%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 gained 0.4%, French CAC 40 rose 0.1% and London's FTSE 100 rose 0.2%.

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.

The Treasury will auction 7-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

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