Mid-day market update: Skechers jumps on earnings beat; Inovio Pharmaceuticals shares drop

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Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.52% to 33,992.56 while the NASDAQ rose 0.93% to 13,947.48. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.82% to 4,168.89.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 31,930,180 cases with around 570,340 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 16,263,690 cases and 186,920 deaths, while Brazil reported over 14,167,970 COVID-19 cases with 383,500 deaths. In total, there were at least 144,804,480 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 3,073,860 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Financial shares climbed by 1.5% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Meridian Bancorp, Inc. EBSB 22.95%, up 18%, and SVB Financial Group SIVB 11.77%, up 12%.

In trading on Friday, consumer staples shares fell 0.02%.

Top Headline

Honeywell International Inc. HON 1.94% reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter.

Honeywell reported quarterly earnings of $1.92 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.80 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $8.45 billion, versus expectations of $8.09 billion.

Honeywell raised its FY21 sales guidance from $33.4 billion-$34.4 billion to $34 billion-$34.8 billion. The company also narrowed adjusted EPS guidance from $7.60-$8 to $7.75-$8.

Equities Trading UP

Sypris Solutions, Inc. SYPR 62.3% shares shot up 32% to $3.72 after the company announced its Electronics unit won a contract for deep space program.

Shares of Skechers U.S.A., Inc. SKX 15.36% got a boost, shooting 16% to $51.53 after the company reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter and issued strong Q2 guidance.

Meridian Bancorp, Inc. EBSB 22.95% shares were also up, gaining 18% to $20.97. Independent Bank announced plans to merge with Meridian Bancorp in stock deal. Meridian Bancorp also released Q1 earnings.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. INO 25.96% shares tumbled 27% to $6.68 in reaction to the company's plans for a predominantly ex-U.S. Phase 3 trial for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, INO-4800.

Shares of Protara Therapeutics, Inc. TARA 17.67% were down 17% to $12.42. Protara said based on feedback from the Food and Drug Administration, it plans to complete confirmatory, large-scale good manufacturing practices manufacturing comparability in the second half of 2021 before commencing clinical study of TARA-002 in pediatric patients with lymphatic malformations.

EDAP TMS S.A. EDAP 12.54% was down, falling 11% to $7.50 after the company said it has priced its 4.15 million ADS offering at $6.75 per ADS, for raising $28 million. The company also issued Q1 sales guidance.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.2% to $62.16, while gold traded down 0.4% to $1,774.20.

Silver traded down 0.7% Friday to $26.00 while copper rose 1.1% to $4.3205.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.26%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.53% and the German DAX 30 dropped 0.45%. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 fell 0.24% London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.16% and Italy’s FTSE MIB declined 0.14%.

The IHS Markit Eurozone services PMI increased to 50.3 in April compared to 49.6 in the earlier month, while manufacturing PMI rose to 63.3 from 62.5. German composite PMI dropped to 56.0 in April versus a 37-month high level of 57.3 in the earlier month, while French composite PMI increased to 51.7 from 50.

UK’s manufacturing PMI climbed to 60.7 in April from 58.9 in March, while services PMI rose to 60.1 from 56.3. Retail sales in the UK rose 5.4% in March.