Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow tumbles over 200 points, Aehr Test Systems shares spike higher

Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.63% to 34,766.06 while the NASDAQ fell 0.47% to 14,475.13. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.53% to 4,336.88.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 33,977,710 cases with around 608,400 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 31,026,820 cases and 412,530 deaths, while Brazil reported over 19,262,510 COVID-19 cases with 538,940 deaths. In total, there were at least 189,024,600 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 4,068,770 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares rose by 1.3% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Middlesex Water Company MSEX 4.35%, up 5%, and California Water Service Group CWT 3.5%, up 4%.

In trading on Friday, energy shares fell 2.4%.

Top Headline

Kansas City Southern KSU 0.69% reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its second quarter on Friday.

Kansas City Southern reported quarterly adjusted earnings of $2.06 per share, missing analysts’ estimates of $2.19 per share. The company’s revenue came in at $749.50 million, versus expectations of $750.77 million.

Equities Trading UP

Byrna Technologies Inc. BYRN 13.63% shares shot up 13% to $25.52 after the company priced an upsized offering of 2.5 million shares at $21 per share.

Shares of Aehr Test Systems AEHR 18.54% got a boost, shooting 19% to $3.3550 after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 results and issued strong FY22 sales guidance.

TD Holdings, Inc. GLG 33.01% shares were also up, gaining 32% to $1.0750 after the company entered a non-binding letter of intent to acquire Guangdong Jinbochuang Special Purpose Vehicle Co. and Hunan Jinmeike New Material Co.

Equities Trading DOWN

FibroGen, Inc. FGEN 45.63% shares tumbled 46% to $13.51 after an FDA Advisory Committee panel voted against approval of the company's New Drug Application roxadustat to treat anemia due to chronic kidney disease in adult patients. B of A Securities downgraded FibroGen from Buy to Neutral.

Shares of Neptune Wellness Solutions Inc. NEPT 21.73% were down 22% to $0.8362 after the company reported Q4 earnings results. Sales of C$6.80 million were down from C$9.53 million in the same period last year.

American Outdoor Brands, Inc. AOUT 21.79% was down, falling 22% to $27.86 after the company reported downbeat sales for the fourth quarter.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.3% to $71.89, while gold traded down 0.9% to $1,812.60.

Silver traded down 2.6% Friday to $25.705 while copper fell 0.2% to $4.3165.

Euro zone

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.32%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.24% and the German DAX 30 dropped 0.57%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.06%, French CAC 40 declined 0.51% and Italy’s FTSE MIB fell 0.33%.

Annual inflation rate in the Eurozone was confirmed at 1.9% for June. Passenger car registrations in the European Union surged 10.4% annually to 1.05 million units in June. Italy's trade surplus rose to EUR 5.64 billion in May from EUR 5.62 billion in the year-ago month.

Economics

US retail sales rose 0.6% in June, beating analysts’ expectations for a 0.4% decline.

US business inventories rose 0.5% for May.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index declined to a five-month low of 80.8 in July versus 85.5 in the earlier month .

The total number of active U.S. oil rigs rose by 2 to 380 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported.

The Treasury International Capital report for May is scheduled for release at 4:00 p.m. ET.