Benzinga | Sep 18, 2020 10:17AM EDT

Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mixed; US Consumer Sentiment Rises In September

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 0.18% to 27850.97 while the NASDAQ rose 0.18% to 10,930.12. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.06% to 3,355.02.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 6,676,410 cases with around 197,650 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 5,214,670 confirmed cases and 84,370 deaths, while Brazil reported over 4,455,380 COVID-19 cases with 134,930 deaths. In total, there were at least 30,205,220 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 946,670 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares climbed 0.5% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included uCloudlink Group Inc. (NASDAQ:UCL), up 7%, and Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSSE), up 5%.

In trading on Friday, energy shares tumbled 1.1%.

Top Headline

US consumer sentiment increased in September, with the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index climbing to 78.9 versus 74.1 in August.

Economists were expecting a reading of 75.9 for September.



Equities Trading UP

Cassava Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAVA) shares shot up 28% to $9.10 following news of two insiders buying stock Thursday even for a total of about 225,000 shares.

Shares of Sonoma Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNOA) got a boost, shooting 17% to $8.84 after the company said its partner MicroSafe Group received approval by Health Canada for their patented and trademarked Nanocyn disinfectant & sanitizer, which is manufactured by Sonoma using its patented Microcyn Technology, to be sold into Canada through an interim measure for disinfectants and hand sanitizers.

Veritone, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERI) shares were also up, gaining 17% to $9.73 on continued momentum from yesterday after the company announced it was awarded a $1.3 million subcontract under the US Air Force Program to enhance satellite imagery analysis.

Equities Trading DOWN

BioVie Inc. (NASDAQ:BIVI) shares tumbled 20% to $9.97 after the company reported the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 1,565,200 shares at $10.00 per share.

Shares of Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CKPT) were down 11% to $3.11 after the company said it has entered into an underwriting agreement with H.C. Wainwright & Co., under which the underwriter has agreed to purchase on a firm commitment basis 7.143 million shares at $2.80 per share.

Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKDA) was down, falling 11% to $3.11 after gaining 15% on Thursday. Arcadia Biosciences expanded its leadership team with new heads of commercial operations and product innovation.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.3% to $41.08, while gold traded up 0.6% to $1,960.90.

Silver traded up 0.8% Friday to $27.315 while copper rose 0.3% to $3.0810.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 0.1%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.5%, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.2%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 gained 0.2%, French CAC 40 dropped 0.2% and London's FTSE 100 fell 0.2%.

Retail sales in the UK climbed for the fourth consecutive month, rising 0.8% in August. German producer prices fell for the seventh straight month, declining 1.2% year-over-year in August.

Economics

The current account deficit increased by 52.9% to $170.5 billion during the second quarter.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index climbed to 78.9 in September versus 74.1 in August.

The index of leading economic indicators increased 1.2% for August, versus analysts' estimates for a 1.3% rise.

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic will speak at 12:00 p.m. ET.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the recent week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.