Mid-day market update: Nasdaq surges over 100 points; TAT Technologies shares spike higher

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.35% to 26,910.46 while the NASDAQ rose 1.12% to 10,791.60. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.54% to 3,264.23.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 6,979,930 cases with around 202,820 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 5,818,570 confirmed cases and 92,290 deaths, while Brazil reported over 4,657,700 COVID-19 cases with 139,800 deaths. In total, there were at least 32,261,670 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 983,490 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares rose 1.3% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included MobileIron, Inc. MOBL 18.27%, up 18%, and Ideanomics, Inc. IDEX 10.17%, up 9%.

In trading on Friday, energy shares fell 0.6%.

Top Headline

Costco Wholesale Corporation COST 2.3% reported weaker-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.

Costco reported quarterly earnings of $3.13 per share, exceeding analysts’ estimates of $2.83 per share. The company reported sales of $52.28 billion, surpassing expectations of $52.08 billion.

Costco’s quarterly comparable sales surged 11.4% year over year, while e-commerce sales jumped 90.6%.

Equities Trading UP

Standard AVB Financial Corp. STND 73.24% shares shot up 73% to $32.48 after the company announced it would get acquired by Dollar Mutual for $158 million in cash.

Shares of TAT Technologies Ltd. TATT 33.02% got a boost, shooting 43% to $5.72 after the company announced it entered into a 10-year maintenance and repair agreement with Honeywell.

MobileIron, Inc. MOBL 18.27% shares were also up, gaining 18% to $6.53 as traders circulate unconfirmed M&A speculation in the name.

Equities Trading DOWN

Sunworks, Inc. SUNW 38.68% shares tumbled 38% to $2.44 after jumping 239% on Thursday.

Shares of Polar Power, Inc. POLA 22.77% were down 22% to $2.8901, selling off from Thursday strength as the stock gained heavily in recent sessions amid momentum in the electric vehicle/fuel cell space..

SPI Energy Co., Ltd. SPI 22.6% was down, falling 19% to $10.66, selling off from heavy momentum in recent days after the company announced a new electric vehicle subsidiary.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.7% to $40.04, while gold traded down 0.6% to $1,866.60.

Silver traded down 0.4% Friday to $23.100 while copper rose 0.3% to $2.9775.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.27%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.47%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dropped 1.21%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 declined 1.33%, French CAC 40 fell 1.09% and London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.08%.

Consumer sentiment in the U.K. rose slightly to minus 25 in September, versus minus 27 in August.

Economics

U.S. durable goods orders increased 0.4% in August, versus a revised 11.7% surge in July.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is scheduled for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams will speak at 3:10 p.m. ET.