Benzinga | Aug 25, 2020 12:00PM EDT

Mid-Day Market Update: Dow Tumbles 170 Points; Viveve Medical Shares Spike Higher

Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.60% to 28,137.82 while the NASDAQ rose 0.21% to 11,403.25. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.03% to 3,430.26.

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 0.5% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Gogo Inc. (NASDAQ:GOGO), up 15%, and Urban One, Inc. (NASDAQ:UONE), up 10%.

In trading on Tuesday, energy shares fell by 1.7%.

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 109% to $1.1070 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 45% to $3.61 after the company reported that it has been awarded a contract by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

NIO Limited (NYSE:NIO) shares were also up, gaining 12% to $16.81after UBS upgraded the stock from Sell to Neutral.

Equities Trading DOWN

The Children's Place, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLCE) shares tumbled 19% to $18.86 after the company reported wider-than-expected Q2 loss.

Shares of Sonnet BioTherapeutics Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:SONN) were down 21% to $3.0745. 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 $0.6965 after the company reported a $2.5 million bought deal offering.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.4% to $43.20, while gold traded down 0.9% to $1,921.10.

Silver traded down 0.7% Tuesday to $26.425, while copper rose 0.1% to $2.9295.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.29%, the Spanish Ibex Index slipped 0.01%, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index declined 0.41%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 climbed 0.03%, French CAC 40 rose 0.09% and UK shares fell 1.06%.

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.

The Treasury is set to auction 2-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

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