Benzinga | Sep 24, 2020 02:02PM EDT

Mid-Day Market Update: US Stocks Turn Higher; Kubient Shares Plunge

Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.45% to 26882.52 while the NASDAQ rose 1.14% to 10,754.07. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.72% to 3,260.23.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 6,935,410 cases with around 201,920 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 5,732,510 confirmed cases and 91,140 deaths, while Brazil reported over 4,591,360 COVID-19 cases with 138,100 deaths. In total, there were at least 31,914,770 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 977,100 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares rose 1.4% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included SPI Energy Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ:SPI), up 18%, and Wrap Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:WRTC), up 15%.

In trading on Thursday, energy shares tumbled 0.5%.

Top Headline

Accenture Plc (NYSE:GIS) reported weaker-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.

Accenture reported quarterly earnings of $1.70 per share, exceeding analysts' estimates of $1.73 per share. The company reported sales of $10.84 billion, surpassing expectations of $10.91 billion.

Accenture said it expects Q1 sales of $11.15 billion to $11.55 billion, versus analysts' estimates of $11.52 billion. The company projects FY21 revenue growth of 2%-5% and earnings of $7.80-$8.10 per share.



Equities Trading UP

Sunworks, Inc. (NASDAQ:SUNW) shares shot up 363% to $5.37. The strength is potentially related to recent volatility in solar and EV names following momentum in SPI Energy as well as heavy sector speculation.

Shares of Owens & Minor, Inc. (NYSE:OMI) got a boost, shooting 57% to $21.68 after the company raised its FY20 guidance.

Net Element, Inc. (NASDAQ:NETE) shares were also up, gaining 66% to $10.73 after Mullen Technologies, its M&A target, announced it will begin construction of an electric vehicle pilot facility and is accepting pre-orders for its MX-05 fully electric SUV starting Oct 1st.

Equities Trading DOWN

Kubient, Inc. (NASDAQ:KBNT) shares tumbled 25% to $2.95 after the company reported wider Q2 loss.

Shares of MediciNova, Inc. (NASDAQ:MNOV) were down 21% to $4.7150 after the company announced clinical findings regarding MN-166 published in Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology. Only 2 patients in the study had improved symptoms.

Crexendo, Inc. (NASDAQ:CXDO) was down, falling 14% to $5.30. Crexendo announced pricing of public offering of common stock.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.4% to $39.79, while gold traded up 0.1% to $1,870.90.

Silver traded down 1.9% Thursday to $22.665 while copper fell 1.4% to $2.9510.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 declined 1.02%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.16%, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.12%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 declined 0.29%, French CAC 40 fell 0.83% and London's FTSE 100 slipped 1.3%.

France reported further improvement in its business confidence, with the country's manufacturing industry climate indicator rising for the fifth month to 96 points in September versus a revised reading of 92 in August.

Economics

U.S. initial jobless claims increased by 4,000 to 870,000 in the week ended September 19.

US new home sales rose 4.8% to an annual rate of 1,011 thousand in August.

US natural-gas supplies rose 66 million cubic feet for the latest week, the Energy Information Administration reported.

The Kansas City Fed's manufacturing index for September will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET. The index is expected to decline to 13 in September from 14 in August.

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin will speak at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans is set to speak at 1:00 p.m. ET.

The Treasury is set to auction 7-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.

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is set to speak at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin will speak at 2:00 p.m. ET.

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