Benzinga | Oct 19, 2020 10:16AM EDT

Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Lower; Halliburton Posts Mixed Q3 Results

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded down 0.15% to 28563.12 while the NASDAQ rose 0.02% to 11673.46. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.05% to 3481.94.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 8,155,590 cases with around 219,670 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 7,550,270 confirmed cases and 114,610 deaths, while Brazil reported over 5,224,360 COVID-19 cases with 153,670 deaths. In total, there were at least 40,076,180 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 1,113,960 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer discretionary shares rose 0.3% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAY), up 8%, and Vroom, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRM), up 6%.

In trading on Monday, communication services shares fell 0.7%.

Top Headline

Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter, while sales missed view.

Halliburton reported quarterly earnings of $0.11 per share, beating analysts' estimates of $0.08 per share. The company posted sales of $2.98 billion, missing expectations of $3.09 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Kaixin Auto Holdings (NASDAQ:KXIN) shares shot up 136% to $4.89 after climbing over 55% on Friday. JP Morgan, last week, upgraded the company's stock from Neutral to Overweight.

Shares of BioSpecifics Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:BSTC) got a boost, shooting 44% to $88.16 after the company agreed be acquired by Endo Pharmaceuticals for $88.50 per share in cash.

Front Yard Residential Corporation (NYSE:RESI) shares were also up, gaining 36% to $13.53 after the company agreed be acquired for $13.50 per share in cash..



Equities Trading DOWN

Abraxas Petroleum Corporation (NASDAQ:AXAS) shares tumbled 23% to $2.2250 following effectiveness of 1-for-20 reverse split.

Shares of CHF Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHFS) were down 19% to $6.86. CHF Solutions recently announced data demonstrating benefit of aquadex therapy for the treatment of heart failure and COVID-19.

The9 Limited (NASDAQ:NCTY) was down, falling 16% to $2.2698. The9 changed the ratio of ordinary shares each ADS represents from 3 to 30.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.4% to $40.73, while gold traded up 0.6% to $1,917.00.

Silver traded up 2.6% Monday to $24.955 while copper rose 0.6% to $3.0865.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 gained 0.3%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.5%, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index rose 0.4%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 gained 0.1%, French CAC 40 surged 0.6% and London's FTSE 100 fell 0.2%.

Eurozone construction output declined the least in six months, falling just 0.9% year-over-year in August.

Economics

The NAHB housing market index rose to 85 in October versus 83 in September.

The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida will speak at 11:45 a.m. ET.