Benzinga | Sep 25, 2020 10:14AM EDT

Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Costco Beats Q4 Estimates

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 0.61% to 26,651.12 while the NASDAQ fell 0.15% to 10,656.05. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.49% to 3,230.76.

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

Real estate shares rose 0.5% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Colony Capital, Inc. (NYSE:CLNY), up 11%, and Stratus Properties Inc. (NASDAQ:STRS), up 7%.

In trading on Friday, energy shares fell 1.1%.

Top Headline

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) 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. (NASDAQ:STND) shares shot up 73% to $32.50 after the company announced it would get acquired by Dollar Mutual for $158 million in cash.

Shares of TAT Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:TATT) got a boost, shooting 39% to $5.57 after the company announced it entered into a 10-year maintenance and repair agreement with Honeywell.

MobileIron, Inc. (NASDAQ:MOBL) shares were also up, gaining 20% to $6.65 as traders circulate unconfirmed M&A speculation in the name.



Equities Trading DOWN

Sunworks, Inc. (NASDAQ:SUNW) shares tumbled 45% to $2.16 after jumping 239% on Thursday.

Shares of Polar Power, Inc. (NASDAQ:POLA) were down 32% to $2.4950, 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. (NASDAQ:SPI) was down, falling 30% to $9.22, selling off from heavy momentum in recent days after the company announced a new electric vehicle subsidiary.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1% to $39.90, while gold traded down 0.9% to $1,859.60.

Silver traded down 1.7% Friday to $22.800 while copper fell 0.5% to $2.9540.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 declined 1.3%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.2%, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index dropped 1.8%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 declined 2%, French CAC 40 fell 2% and London's FTSE 100 slipped 0.8%.

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.