Mid-day market update: Socket Mobile surges following Q2 results, Nova LifeStyle shares plummet

Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.64% to 35,045.54 while the NASDAQ rose 0.76% to 14,796.74. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.83% to 4,403.64.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 34,229,800 cases with around 609,870 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 31,257,720 cases and 418,980 deaths, while Brazil reported over 19,473,950 COVID-19 cases with 545,600 deaths. In total, there were at least 192,054,100 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 4,128,050 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares climbed 2.3% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Snap Inc. SNAP 24.17%, up 22%, and Roku, Inc. ROKU 9.67%, up 8%.

In trading on Friday, energy shares fell 0.8%.

Top Headline

Honeywell International Inc. HON 2.21% reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter and boosted its FY21 guidance.

Honeywell reported quarterly adjusted earnings of $2.02 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.94 per share. The company’s revenue came in at $8.81 billion, versus expectations of $8.63 billion.

Honeywell said it now expects FY21 adjusted EPS of $7.95-$8.10 versus prior forecast of $7.75-$8.00. The company also raised its sales guidance from $34.0 billion-$34.8 billion to $34.6 billion-$35.2 billion.

Equities Trading UP

The New Home Company Inc. NWHM 82.94% shares shot up 83% to $8.90 after the company announced it entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Investment for $9 per share in an all-cash transaction.

Shares of Socket Mobile, Inc. SCKT 57.71% got a boost, shooting 78% to $10.35 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 results.

Veoneer, Inc. VNE 56.3% shares were also up, gaining 56% to $31.16. Magna International agreed to acquire Veoneer, an automotive safety technology company, for $3.8 billion.

Equities Trading DOWN

TAL Education Group TAL 67.32% shares tumbled 64% to $7.49 after a Bloomberg report suggested that China is considering asking tutoring firms to transition into non-profits, as the country continues its crackdown on the industry.

Shares of Nova LifeStyle, Inc. NVFY 31.23% were down 32% to $2.3696 after the company announced it priced its 1.114 million share registered direct offering at $2.80 per share.

New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. EDU 58.36% was down, falling 60% to $2.5677 after a Bloomberg report suggested that China is considering asking tutoring firms to transition into non-profits, as the country continues its crackdown on the industry.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.2% to $71.80, while gold traded down 0.3% to $1,800.90.

Silver traded down 0.6% Friday to $25.23 while copper rose 0.7% to $4.3670.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 1.08%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.11% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.92%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.81%, French CAC 40 surged 1.33% and Italy’s FTSE MIB climbed 1.22%.

The IHS Markit Eurozone services PMI climbed to 60.4 in July versus 58.3 in the prior month, while manufacturing PMI slipped to 62.6 in July from 63.4. German composite PMI climbed to 62.5 in July from June's level of 60.1, while French composite PMI slipped to 56.8 in July from 57.4.

UK’s retail sales rose 0.5% in June versus a revised 1.3% growth in May. UK’s services PMI fell to 57.8 in July from 62.4 in the prior month, while manufacturing PMI declined to 60.4 in July from 63.9.

Economics

The IHS Markit US services PMI fell to 59.8 in July from 64.6 in the prior month, while manufacturing PMI rose to 63.1 in July from 62.1 in June.

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