Benzinga | Jul 23, 2020 12:10PM EDT

Mid-Day Market Update: Brightcove Surges On Upbeat Q2 Results; Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Shares Slide

Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.46% to 26,882.42 while the NASDAQ fell 0.64% to 10,637.29. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.29% to 3,266.66.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 3,971,340 cases with around 143,190 deaths. Brazil confirmed a total of over 2,227,510 COVID-19 cases with 82,770 deaths, while India reported a total of at least 1,238,790 confirmed cases and 29,860 deaths. In total, there were at least 15,255,090 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 624,130 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares rose 0.6% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Sunnova Energy International Inc. (NYSE:NOVA), up 4%, and Enel Chile S.A. (NYSE:ENIC), up 4%.

In trading on Thursday, information technology shares fell 0.8%.

Top Headline

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) reported better-than-expected earnings for its second quarter, while sales missed views.

AT&T posted quarterly earnings of $0.83 per share, beating analysts' estimates of $0.79 per share. The company reported sales of $40.95 billion, missing expectations of $41.02 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Milestone Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:MIST) shares shot up 112% to $7.09 after the company reported its NODE-301 and NODE-301B studies can be used as 2 efficacy studies that support future new drug application submissions.

Shares of Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. (NYSE:HLX) got a boost, shooting 23% to $4.7164 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 results. Piper Sandler also upgraded the stock from Neutral to Overweight and raised the price target from $3.50 to $6 per share.

Brightcove Inc. (NASDAQ:BCOV) shares were also up, gaining 42% to $11.45 after the company reported stronger-than-expected Q2 results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Bright Scholar Education Holdings Limited (NYSE:BEDU) shares tumbled 11% to $7.61 after the company reported Q3 results.

Shares of Ascena Retail Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASNA) were down 24% to $0.60 after the company voluntarily filed chapter 11 petitions.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUPH) was down, falling 11% to $14.86 after the company priced its US$200 million public offering of common shares. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals shares climbed over 15% on Wednesday after the company's new drug application for Voclosporin was accepted by the FDA for priority review.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.4% to $42.06, while gold traded up 1.7% to $1,897.00.

Silver traded up 0.4% Thursday to $23.23, while copper rose 1% to $2.9535.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 0.06%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.07%, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index declined 0.7%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 slipped 0.01%, French CAC 40 declined 0.07% and UK shares rose 0.07%.

Economics

U.S. initial jobless claims rose 1.42 million in the week ended July 18, versus analysts' expectations of 1.30 million.

The index of leading economic indicators increased 2% for June.

Domestic supplies of natural gas gained 37 billion cubic feet for the week ended July 17, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts expected a rise of 33 billion cubic feet.

The Kansas City manufacturing index increased to +7 in July versus a reading of +2 in the prior month.

The Treasury is set to auction 20-year bonds at 1:00 p.m. ET.

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