Mid-afternoon market update: Dow down 70 points; Atlantic Power shares spike higher

Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.23% to 30,921.17 while the NASDAQ fell 0.41% to 13,058.38. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.38% to 3,781.01.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 23,314,230 cases with around 388,700 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 10,527,680 confirmed cases and 151,910 deaths, while Brazil reported over 8,324,290 COVID-19 cases with 207,090 deaths. In total, there were at least 93,201,360 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 1,996,250 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Real estate shares gained by 1.4% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corporation MNR 6.42%, up 6%, and Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated CHCT 2.4%, up 3%.

In trading on Friday, energy shares fell 3.6%.

Top Headline

JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM 1.02% reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.

JPMorgan reported quarterly earnings of $3.79 per share, versus analysts’ expectations of $2.62 per share. The company posted managed revenue of $30.20 billion, versus estimates of $28.70 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Charah Solutions, Inc. CHRA 35.4% shares shot up 36% to $3.6899 after the company announced it has been awarded a 12-year ash marketing contract by Dominion Energy for beneficial use of 8.1 million tons of reclaimed ponded coal ash.

Shares of Atlantic Power Corporation AT 39.19% got a boost, shooting 40% to $2.93 as the company agreed to be acquired by I Squared Capital, a leading global infrastructure investor.

DBV Technologies S.A. DBVT 42.38% shares were also up, gaining 43% to $5.34 after the company announced the receipt of regulatory feedback from the FDA for the questions raised in the Type A meeting request made by the company with respect to the complete response letter received for its Viaskin Peanut, which is being evaluated for peanut allergy in children, ages 4-11 years.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

voxeljet AG VJET 11.24% shares tumbled 12% to $15.02 after the company priced a 621,170 share registered direct offering at $16.16 per share.

Shares of Cardiff Oncology, Inc. CRDF 24.68% were down 25% to $14.62 after the company announced the presentation of data from its Phase 1b/2 study in KRAS-mutated metastatic colorectal cancer as part of the American Society of Clinical Oncology Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

SOS Limited SOS 18.63% was down, falling 21% to $2.1862 after the company reported exercise of warrants for $26.6 million gross proceeds.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 2.2% to $52.39, while gold traded down 1.2% to $1,828.80.

Silver traded down 3.8% Friday to $24.82 while copper fell 1.7% to $3.6025.

Euro zone

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 1.01%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.69% and the German DAX 30 dropped 1.44%. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 fell 1.22%, London’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.97% and Italy’s FTSE MIB fell 1.13%.

Britain's economy contracted by 8.9% year-over-year in November, while trade deficit increased to GBP 5 billion in November. The country’s construction output fell 1.4% year-over-year, while manufacturing production dropped 3.8% year-on-year in November. Spain's consumer prices declined 0.5% year-over-year in December.

Economics

The Producer Price Index rose 0.3% in December.

US retail sales dropped 0.7% in December versus a revised 1.4% decline in November.

The New York Empire State Manufacturing Index declined to 3.5 in January of versus 4.9 in December.

US industrial production rose 1.6% in December.

US business inventories increased 0.5% in November.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index declined to79.2 in January from the previous month's reading of 80.7.

The total number of active U.S. oil rigs rose by 12 to 287 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported