Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.35% to 26557.78 while the NASDAQ fell 0.68% to 10,390.34. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.40% to 3,222.84.
The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 4,038,860 cases with around 144,300 deaths. Brazil confirmed a total of over 2,287,470 COVID-19 cases with 84,080 deaths, while India reported a total of at least 1,288,100 confirmed cases and 30,600 deaths. In total, there were at least 15,526,050 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 633,650 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Consumer discretionary shares rose 0.2% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Company HBB 36.33%, up 38%, and Scientific Games Corporation SGMS 9.16%, up 10%.
In trading on Friday, health care shares fell 1.2%.
Honeywell International Inc. HON 2.31% reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter.
Honeywell posted quarterly earnings of $1.26 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.21 per share. The company reported sales of $7.48 billion, exceeding expectations of $7.29 billion.
Global Eagle Entertainment Inc. ENT 162.62% shares shot up 170% to $5.68 after the company received interim approvals from the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware for the ‘First Day’ motions related to the Company’s voluntary Chapter 11 petitions.
Shares of ChannelAdvisor Corporation ECOM 35.22% got a boost, shooting 32% to $19.63 after the company raised its Q2 sales guidance and reported the purchase of Blueboard. Needham maintained ChannelAdvisor with a Buy and raised the price target from $16 to $21.
Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Company HBB 36.33% shares were also up, gaining 39% to $14.40 after the company reported Q1 and preliminary Q2 results. Total revenue slipped 4.6% during the first quarter, while Q2 revenue is projected to rise around 5.5%.
eHealth, Inc. EHTH 30.42% shares tumbled 30% to $80.37 after the company reported Q2 earnings results. The latest quarter results showed negative cash flow despite growth in revenue. Barclays and Credit Suisse lowered their price targets on the stock.
Shares of Intel Corporation INTC 15.54% were down 15% to $51.50. Intel reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter, but announced delay in its 7-nanometer chip release. Various analysts, including, Roth Capital, Bernstein, Deutsche Bank, B of A Securities and Northland Capital Markets downgraded the stock following quarterly results.
Veoneer, Inc. VNE 18.87% was down, falling 15% to $11.68 after the company reported financial results for its second quarter.
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.3% to $41.19, while gold traded up 0.5% to $1,900.30.
Silver traded up 0.4% Friday to $23.085, while copper fell 1.2% to $2.904.
European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 1.77%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.13%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 1.74%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 slipped 1.91%, French CAC 40 declined 1.63% and UK shares fell 1.33%.
The IHS Markit manufacturing PMI rose to 51.3 in July versus 49.8 in June, while services PMI climbed to 49.6 in July versus 47.9 in the prior month.
U.S. new home sales increased 13.8% to an annual rate of 776,000 in June.
The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is scheduled for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.
The price of gold is relentless in its pursuit of a record high, spiking in the open for the week. The bulls are confident that the geopolitical backdrops, soaring cases of the coronavirus, the Fed and various economic data from around the world is going to be plentiful in the last week of the month.
AUD/USD opened in a bearish gap within a 19 pip range at the start of business of the final week of July. Traders will be gearing up for a busy week ahead where the onus has been on equities and precious metals prices.
Tensions between the US and China spurred concerns and fueled demand for safe-haven assets. Japan returns after a long weekend, which may result in a weekly opening gap. USD/JPY is technically bearish, could continue falling as long as below 106.60.
It has been a rough week for the US dollar. The greenback traded lower against all of the major currencies falling to multi-month and in some cases, multi-year lows in the process. The dollar’s weakness was the most pronounced against the euro and Australian dollar
WTI (futures on Nymex) has staged a V-shaped recovery from the daily low of 40.72, now looking to extend the pullback above 41.50.
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