Mid-afternoon market update: Dow tumbles over 400 points, CAI International shares spike higher

Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded down 1.27% to 33,394.86 while the NASDAQ fell 0.92% to 14,031.05. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.03% to 4,178.31.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 33,508,900 cases with around 600,930 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 29,762,790 cases and 383,490 deaths, while Brazil reported over 17,702,630 COVID-19 cases with 496,000 deaths. In total, there were at least 177,465,600 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 3,843,090 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer discretionary shares slipped by just 0.5% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. SWBI 17.22%, up 17%, and TAL Education Group TAL 8.8%, up 8%.

In trading on Friday, financial shares tumbled 2.4%.

Top Headline

Adobe Inc ADBE 2.59% reported upbeat results for its second quarter and issued strong guidance for the current quarter on Thursday.

Adobe reported quarterly earnings of $3.03 per share, exceeding analysts’ estimates of $2.81 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $3.84 billion, topping expectations of $3.73 billion.

Adobe said it sees Q3 adjusted earnings of $3.00 per share, versus analysts’ estimates of $2.89 per share. The company projects sales of $3.88 billion, compared to expectations of $3.83 billion.

Equities Trading UP

CAI International, Inc. CAI 46.16% shares shot up 46% to $55.71 after the company agreed to be acquired by Mitsubishi HC Capital for $56 per share in cash.

Shares of Sykes Enterprises, Incorporated SYKE 30.09% got a boost, shooting 30% to $53.42 after the company announced it will be acquired by Sitel Group at a purchase price of $54 per share in cash.

Geron Corporation GERN 28.72% shares were also up, gaining 32% to $1.8599 after the company reported the publication of IMbark Phase 2 data in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Equities Trading DOWN

Athira Pharma, Inc. ATHA 39.42% shares tumbled 38% to $11.30. Athira Pharma’s CEO Leen Kawas has been placed on temporary leave until the company completes a review “stemming from doctoral research Dr. Kawas conducted while at Washington State University.” The company, which is developing drugs for treating Alzheimer’s disease, said that Chief Operating Officer Mark Litton would assume day-to-day responsibilities during Kawas’ leave.

Shares of Orphazyme A/S ORPH 49.66% were down 51% to $7.17 after the company announced it received a Complete Response Letter from the FDA for its treatment for Niemann-Pick Disease Type C and also cut its FY2021 outlook

Capstone Green Energy Corporation CGRN 21.58% was down, falling 22% to $5.73 after the company increased its earlier announced bought deal offering of common stock to $10.0 million.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.9% to $71.68, while gold traded down 0.3% to $1,770.40.

Silver traded up 0.3% Friday to $25.93 while copper fell 0.6% to $4.1520.

Euro zone

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 1.58%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.8% and the German DAX 30 fell 1.78%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 fell 1.9%, French CAC 40 fell 1.46% and Italy’s FTSE MIB fell 1.93%.

Producer prices in Germany surged 7.2% year-over-year in May, recording the strongest growth since October 2008. UK’s retail sales fell 1.4% in May versus a 9.2% rise in April, while construction output in Italy rose 60.2% year-over-year in April. The Eurozone current account surplus increased to EUR 31.4 billion in April from EUR 12.1 billion in the year-ago month.

Economics

The total number of active U.S. oil rigs climbed by 8 to 373 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported.