Benzinga | Sep 22, 2020 12:11PM EDT

Mid-Day Market Update: Nasdaq Gains 60 Points; Vaccinex Shares Slide

Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.06% to 27130.58 while the NASDAQ rose 0.56% to 10,839. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.36% to 3,293.02.

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

Real estate shares climbed 1.5% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Uniti Group Inc. (NASDAQ:UNIT), up 8%, and Physicians Realty Trust (NYSE:DOC), up 3%.

In trading on Monday, financial shares tumbled 1.4%.

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 31% to $228.02 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 23% to $2.5104 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 98% to $1.1648 after the company announced its UroShield received FDA authorization for entry into the USA.

Equities Trading DOWN

Vaccinex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCNX) shares tumbled 57% to $2.3750 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 FTS International, Inc. (NYSE:FTSI) were down 16% to $3.70 after the company said it amended and restated restructuring support deal with creditors.

BioSig Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:BSGM) was down, falling 23% to $6.26. 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 0.4% to $39.45, while gold traded down 0.4% to $1,903.50.

Silver traded up 0.3% Tuesday to $24.450 while copper rose 1.4% to $3.0745.

Euro zone

European shares were 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.

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

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