Benzinga | Sep 2, 2020 10:26AM EDT

Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Macy's Beats Q2 Expectations

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.71% to 28850.46 while the NASDAQ rose 0.09% to 11950.47. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.52% to 3545.05.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 6,075,650 cases with around 184,680 deaths. Brazil confirmed a total of over 3,950,930 COVID-19 cases with 122,590 deaths, while India reported a total of at least 3,769,520 confirmed cases and 66,330 deaths. In total, there were at least 25,781,340 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 857,550 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares gained 1.4% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included VivoPower International PLC (NASDAQ:VVPR), up 15%, and Exelon Corporation (NYSE:EXC), up 3%.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell by 0.2%.

Top Headline

Macy's Inc (NYSE:M) reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter.

Macy's reported quarterly loss of $0.81 per share, surpassing analysts' estimates for a loss of $1.77 per share. The company reported sales of $3.56 billion versus expectations of $3.47 billion.



Equities Trading UP

SmileDirectClub, Inc. (NASDAQ:SDC) shares shot up 22% to $9.57 after the company's CEO, CFO and Director bought 1.96 million shares in the company.

Shares of Vera Bradley, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRA) got a boost, shooting 18% to $6.39 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 results.

Guess', Inc. (NYSE:GES) shares were also up, gaining 17% to $14.00 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 results.



Equities Trading DOWN

At Home Group Inc. (NYSE:HOME) shares tumbled 22% to $18.19. At Home Group reported upbeat results for its second quarter. However, the company did not issue any guidance due to uncertainty surrounding Covid-19.

Shares of ADiTx Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADTX) were down 21% to $2.5288 after the company priced its 2.4 million unit public offering at $4 per unit.

Jiayin Group Inc. (NASDAQ:JFIN) was down, falling 19% to $3.05 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q2 results.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.2% to $42.26, while gold traded down 1.2% to $1,954.70.

Silver traded down 3.7% Wednesday to $27.595, while copper fell 0.6% to $3.0095.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 1.7%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.6%, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index climbed 1.3%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 gained 2%, French CAC 40 climbed 1.8% and London's FTSE 100 rose 1.3%.

House prices in the UK jumped to a record high, with the annual house price growth increasing to 3.7% in August. Industrial producer prices in the Eurozone rose 0.6% in July after increasing 0.7% in the prior month.

Economics

Private businesses in the US hired 428,000 workers in August, versus a revised gain of 212,000 in July.

The ISM New York current business conditions index declined to 42.9 in August versus 53.5 in the prior month.

U.S. factory orders increased 6.4% in July.

The Energy Information Administration's weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester will speak at 12:00 p.m. ET.

The Federal Reserve will release its latest Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari is set to speak at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly will speak at 6:00 p.m. ET.