Benzinga | Aug 25, 2020 02:30PM EDT

Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Crude Oil Rises 2%; Children's Place Shares Plunge On Wider-Than-Expected Q2 Loss

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.43% to 28185.70 while the NASDAQ rose 0.35% to 11,419.42. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.12% to 3,435.35.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 5,741,080 cases with around 177,280 deaths. Brazil confirmed a total of over 3,622,860 COVID-19 cases with 115,300 deaths, while India reported a total of at least 3,167,320 confirmed cases and 58,390 deaths. In total, there were at least 23,676,590 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 813,780 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares gained 0.8% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Gogo Inc. (NASDAQ:GOGO), up 12%, and Fang Holdings Limited (NYSE:SFUN), up 6%.

In trading on Tuesday, energy shares fell by 1.5%.

Top Headline

Hormel Foods Corp (NYSE:HRL) reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter..

Hormel Foods reported quarterly earnings of $0.37 per share, beating analysts' estimates of $0.34 per share. The company reported sales of $2.40 billion, also surpassing expectations of $2.37 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Viveve Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIVE) shares shot up 75% to $0.9281 after the company announced positive primary efficacy data from its three-arm, five-month stress urinary incontinence feasibility study, which is comparing the company's cryogen-cooled monopolar radiofrequency treatment and a cryogen-only sham treatment to an inert sham treatment for mild-to-moderate SUI in women. Additionally, the company announced positive outcomes from an in-vivo preclinical study that was conducted to validate its new inert sham tip for use in the upcoming pivotal PURSUIT Trial in the U.S.

Shares of Sigma Labs, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGLB) got a boost, shooting 32% to $3.29 after the company reported that it has been awarded a contract by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

NIO Limited (NYSE:NIO) shares were also up, gaining 13% to $16.97 after UBS upgraded the stock from Sell to Neutral.

Equities Trading DOWN

The Children's Place, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLCE) shares tumbled 18% to $19.00 after the company reported wider-than-expected Q2 loss.

Shares of Sonnet BioTherapeutics Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:SONN) were down 21% to $3.10. Sonnet BioTherapeutics shares climbed over 48% on Monday after the U.S. FDA issued an emergency use authorization for investigational convalescent plasma for the treatment of COVID-19 in hospitalized patients.

NanoVibronix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NAOV) was down, falling 20% to $0.6951 after the company reported a $2.5 million bought deal offering.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2% to $43.45, while gold traded down 0.7% to $ 1,925.10.

Silver traded down 1.1% Tuesday to $26.32, while copper rose 0.3% to $2.9345.

Euro zone

European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.30%, the Spanish Ibex Index slipped 0.01%, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index declined 0.41%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 slipped 0.04%, French CAC 40 rose 0.01% and UK shares fell 1.11%.

Economics

The S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller home price index increased 3.5% year-over-year in June, versus a revised 3.6% rise in the earlier month.

The FHFA house price index rose 0.9% in June.

The Conference Board's consumer confidence index dipped to 84.80 in August, versus a revised reading of 91.70 in the previous month.

U.S. new home sales climbed 13.9% to an annual rate of 901,000 in July.

The Richmond Fed manufacturing index rose to 18 in August versus a reading of 10 in the prior month.

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly will speak at 3:25 p.m. ET.