Mid-day market update: Crude Oil down 3%; Vuzix shares plummet

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded down 1.7% to 27,811.27 while the NASDAQ fell 2.59% to 11,160.86. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.95% to 3,387.74.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 6,151,100 cases with around 186,800 deaths. Brazil confirmed a total of over 4,041,630 COVID-19 cases with 124,610 deaths, while India reported a total of at least 3,936,740 confirmed cases and 68,470 deaths. In total, there were at least 26,331,490 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 869,290 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Financial shares slipped by just 0.4% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included FBL Financial Group, Inc. FFG 30.81%, up 32%, and Professional Holding Corp. PFHD 5.9%, up 6%.

In trading on Friday, consumer discretionary shares fell by 2.9%.

Top Headline

The national unemployment rate was 8.4% in August from 10.2% in the prior month, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics said Friday. The number of unemployed people fell by 2.8 million to 13.6 million.

Total non-farm payroll employment increased by 1.4 million jobs during August.

Equities Trading UP

FBL Financial Group, Inc. FFG 30.81% shares shot up 32% to $49.03 after the company reported receipt of proposal to acquire public minority stake from Farm Bureau Property & Casualty Insurance Company at $47 per share.

Shares of National CineMedia, Inc. NCMI 23.68% got a boost, shooting 23% to $4.40. Barrington Research upgraded National CineMedia from Market Perform to Outperform and announced a $5.5 price target.

PolyMet Mining Corp. PLM 85.43% shares were also up, gaining 64% to $4.4150 after a Ramsey County District Court judge found that PolyMet’s water permit was issued with proper procedures.

Equities Trading DOWN

Vuzix Corporation VUZI 11.76% shares tumbled 15% to $4.03 after the company announced a common stock offering of 3.647 million shares totaling $15.5 million.

Shares of Oxford Industries, Inc. OXM 15.2% were down 14% to $44.94 after the company reported Q2 results. Citigroup downgraded Oxford Industries from Buy to Neutral and raised the price target from $50 to $53.

Fuwei Films (Holdings) Co., Ltd. FFHL 15.24% was down, falling 19% to $4.6410 after the company reported results for the second quarter.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 3% to $40.14, while gold traded down 0.3% to $1,931.60.

Silver traded down 0.4% Friday to $26.78, while copper rose 1.9% to $3.0325.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 1.14%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.35%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 1.03%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 dropped 1.87%, French CAC 40 fell 1% and London’s FTSE 100 fell 1.06%.

German manufacturing orders increased for the third straight month, rising 2.8% in July. Construction activity in the Eurozone declined last month, with the IHS Markit construction PMI declining to 47.8 in August versus 48.9 in July.

Economics

The US economy added 1.371 million jobs during August, versus a revised 1.734 million in the prior month. The unemployment rate declined to 8.4% in August from 10.2%.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.