Mid-afternoon market update: Nasdaq down 70 points, Ocular Therapeutix shares drop

Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.23% to 35,685.44 while the NASDAQ fell 0.46% to 15,145.51. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.01% to 4,549.46.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 46,174,540 cases with around 753,740 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 34,143,230 cases and 453,070 deaths, while Brazil reported over 21,697,340 COVID-19 cases with 604,760 deaths. In total, there were at least 243,376,290 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 4,947,530 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Financials shares gained by 1.3% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included SVB Financial Group SIVB +6.8% (Get Free Alerts for SIVB), up 7% and American Express Company AXP +5.5% (Get Free Alerts for AXP) up 6%.

In trading on Friday, communication services shares fell 2.3%.

Top Headline

American Express Company AXP +5.5% (Get Free Alerts for AXP) reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter.

American Express reported quarterly earnings of $2.27 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.80 per share. The company reported quarterly revenue of $10.93 billion, versus analysts’ estimates of $10.52 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Creatd, Inc. CRTD +41.44% shares shot up 41% to $4.13. WHE Agency parent company Creatd signed creator Alexis LaRue. The financial terms of the contract remain undisclosed.

Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp. DWAC +107.03% got a boost, shooting 107% to $94.20. Digital World Acquisition surged around 357% on Thursday following an announcement the company will merge with Trump Media & Technology Group.

Phunware, Inc. PHUN +471.24% shares were also up, gaining 471% to $8.74. Phunware shares jumped over 45% on Thursday, possibly in sympathy with Digital World Acquisition as traders circulated an article from May 2020 highlight a partnership between Phunware and the former Trump campaign.

Equities Trading DOWN

Metacrine, Inc. MTCR -57.44% shares tumbled 57% to $1.63 after the company reported interim results for the MET642 Phase 2a trial in patients with NASH and announced a strategic reprioritization of its clinical development programs.

Shares of Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. OCUL -36.2% were down 36% to $6.91 after the company announced topline results for its Phase 2 clinical trial of OTX-CSI for the treatment of dry eye disease did not meet the primary endpoint.

Snap Inc. SNAP -26.6% was down, falling 27% to $55.13. Snap reported upbeat earnings for its third quarter, while sales missed expectations. The company also issued Q4 sales guidance below estimates.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.9% to $84.08, while gold traded up 0.7% to $1,795.

Silver traded up 0.9% Friday to $24.395 while copper fell 1.2% to $4.5020.

Euro zone

European shares closed mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 0.46%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.42% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.46%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.20%, French CAC 40 climbed 0.71% and Italy’s FTSE MIB gained 0.18%.

The IHS Markit services PMI for Eurozone declined to 54.7 in October from 56.4 in the earlier month, while manufacturing PMI slipped to 58.5 from 58.6. German manufacturing PMI dropped to 58.2 in October from 58.4 in September, while services PMI slipped to 52.4 in October from 56.2. French manufacturing PMI fell to 53.5 in October from 55, while services PMI rose to 56.6 in October.

Retail sales in the UK fell 0.2% in September, while GfK consumer confidence index dropped for the third straight month to a reading of -17 in October. UK’s composite PMI climbed to 56.8 in October from 54.9 in the prior month.

Economics

The IHS Markit manufacturing PMI dropped to 59.2 in October from 60.7 in September, while services PMI rose to 58.2 from 54.9.