Benzinga | Sep 22, 2020 02:31PM EDT

Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Rises 100 Points; AIM ImmunoTech Shares Climb

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.38% to 27,248 while the NASDAQ rose 1.23% to 10,911.60. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.72% to 3,304.77.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 6,858,130 cases with around 199,890 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 5,562,660 confirmed cases and 88,930 deaths, while Brazil reported over 4,558,040 COVID-19 cases with 137,270 deaths. In total, there were at least 31,346,080 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 965,290 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer discretionary shares climbed 2.5% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA), up 33%, and GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME), up 21%.

In trading on Monday, financial shares tumbled 1.3%.

Top Headline

AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Tuesday.

AutoZone reported quarterly earnings of $30.93 per share, exceeding analysts' estimates of $24.79 per share. The company reported sales of $4.50 billion, surpassing expectations of $4.15 billion. AutoZone's quarterly same store sales climbed 21.8%.



Equities Trading UP

Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) shares shot up 33% to $231.63 after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock from Neutral to Buy and raised its price target from $178 to $205. Carvana said it expects a record performance in the third quarter.

Shares of AIM ImmunoTech Inc. (NYSE:AIM) got a boost, shooting 26% to $2.5665 after the company announced receipt of statistically significant positive pancreatic cancer survival results from a multiyear Early Access Program conducted at Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands.

NanoVibronix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NAOV) shares were also up, gaining 118% to $1.29 after the company announced its UroShield received FDA authorization for entry into the USA.

Equities Trading DOWN

Vaccinex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCNX) shares tumbled 56% to $2.39 in reaction to an adverse readout. Top-line results from the early manifest treatment arm of the Phase 2 SIGNAL study showed that it did not meet the co-primary endpoints, according to the Rochester, New York-based company.

Shares of ADC Therapeutics SA (NASDAQ:ADCT) were down 18% to $37.02 as the company said it has submitted a biologics license application to the FDA for loncastuximab tesirine, or Lonca, for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Separately, the company announced the commencement of a proposed underwritten public offering of 5.5 million of its common shares.

BioSig Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:BSGM) was down, falling 30% to $5.73. BioSig Technologies reported its ViralClear Pharma subsidiary expanded ongoing Phase 2 trial size for oral anti-viral for the treatment of COVID-19.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1% to $39.69, while gold traded down 0.1% to $1,908.90.

Silver traded up 0.8% Tuesday to $ 24.580 while copper rose 1.4% to $3.0750.

Euro zone

European shares closed mostly higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 gained 0.2%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.65%, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index gained 0.54%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 climbed 0.41%, French CAC 40 slipped 0.4% and London's FTSE 100 rose 0.43%.

The German economy is expected to contract 5.2% this year, the Ifo Institute said. The Ifo had earlier expected a 6.7% contraction.

Economics

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index fell 0.9% during the first three weeks of September versus August.

U.S. existing home sales for August rose 2.4% to an annual rate of 6 million units in August.

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic will speak at 3:00 p.m. ET.