Benzinga | Oct 7, 2020 10:10AM EDT

Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; RPM International Profit Beats Views

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 1.24% to 28118.16 while the NASDAQ rose 1.19% to 11,287.03. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.17% to 3,400.33.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 7,501,840 cases with around 210,900 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 6,757,130 confirmed cases and 104,550 deaths, while Brazil reported over 4,969,140 COVID-19 cases with 147,490 deaths. In total, there were at least 35,849,420 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 1,050,500 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Materials shares jumped 2.3% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Piedmont Lithium Limited (NASDAQ:PLL), up 9%, and Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI), up 8%.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell by 0.4%.

Top Headline

RPM International Inc. (NYSE:RPM) reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter.

RPM reported quarterly earnings of $1.44 per share, beating analysts' estimates of $1.19 per share. The company posted sales of $1.61 billion, surpassing expectations of $1.49 billion.



Equities Trading UP

The Peck Company Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECK) shares shot up 60% to $11.66 in sympathy with Sunworks after the company announced it won $10 million in project wins in Q3. The company also signed a $7.256 million 5.3MW solar project in Rhode Island.

Shares of Taiwan Liposome Company, Ltd. (NASDAQ:TLC) got a boost, shooting 37% to $5.95 after the company received Australian and Taiwan approval to initiate Phase I clinical trial of TLC19 inhalable liposomal hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19.

Sunworks, Inc. (NASDAQ:SUNW) shares were also up, gaining 52% to $4.25 after the company announced it has signed $10 million in new commercial and agriculture projects in the third quarter.



Equities Trading DOWN

Electro-Sensors, Inc. (NASDAQ:ELSE) shares tumbled 37% to $5.32 after surging over 146% on Tuesday.

Shares of Asia Pacific Wire & Cable Corporation Limited (NASDAQ:APWC) were down 27% to $1.92 after climbing more than 96% on Tuesday.

CleanSpark, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLSK) was down, falling 17% to $10.34 after the company reported a common stock offering of 4.44 million shares at $9 per share.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 3% to $39.47, while gold traded down 1.1% to $1,887.20.

Silver traded down 1.7% Wednesday to $23.505 while copper rose 0.2% to $2.9695.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today after recording gains in the prior session. The eurozone's STOXX 600 slipped 0.2%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.2%, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index fell 0.1%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 declined 0.4%, French CAC 40 slipped 0.2% and London's FTSE 100 gained 0.1%.

Spanish industrial production fell 5.7% year-over-year in August versus a revised 6.2% drop in the prior month. Industrial production in Germany also declined 0.2% in August.

Economics

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 Boston President Eric Rosengren is set to speak at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari will speak at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is set to speak at 1:00 p.m. ET.

The Treasury will auction 10-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams will speak at 2:00 p.m. ET.

The Federal Open Market Committee will issue minutes of its latest meeting at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari is set to speak at 2:15 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams will speak at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Data on consumer credit for August will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Chicago Fed President Charles Evans is set to speak at 4:30 p.m. ET.