The Dow was last up nearly 300 points
The main indexes are strengthening theirs morning earnings afternoon as they look to snap a two-day losing streak. The Dow was last up 290 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted notable midday gains. Wall Street is trying to avoid the global uproar caused by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan. Instead, investors are focused on another round of earnings, with upbeat results from both Moderna (MRNA) and CVS Health (CVS).
Upbeat economic data is also giving a boost to markets, after the ISM non-manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) came in at 56.7 in July, up from June’s reading of 55.3 and marked a surprise rally for the index. Also, June factory orders rose a better-than-expected 2%.
Read on to learn more about the current market, including:
A sudden departure from the CEO has been sent Match with stock at least several years. The fintech concern growing after income. Also, HOOD shares a big layoffs update; Monkeypox test updates give APDN a boost; and MTC becomes volatile.
Robinhood Markets Inc (NASDAQ: HOOD) is seeing an increase in its options today, amid news that the company will cut roughly 23% of its workforce. The crypto company also reported a slimmer-than-expected loss of 34 cents per share in the second quarter, even as its revenue missed. Additionally, there was a drop in monthly active users and assets under custody. HOOD was last seen down 13.3% at $10.49, though it still has a 43.3% year-to-date deficit. Back to options, HOOD has seen 37,000 calls and 30,000 puts traded so far, which is seven times the intraday average. The most popular is the 8/5 10-strike weekly call, followed by the 8.50 strike put in the same series, with positions sold to open in the latter.
One of the best performing stocks on the Nasdaq today is Applied DNA Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:APDN). The stock was last seen up 75% at $4.90 after the company said it began analytical validation of a PCR-based test for the monkeypox virus. APDN has added 630.8% in the last week alone after breaking out of long-term pressure at the 40-day moving average yesterday.
One of the worst performing stocks on the Nasdaq today is MMTec Inc (NASDAQ:MTC), last seen up 33.4% at $5.23. Shares have been particularly volatile of late, and while the catalyst for that volatility is unclear, the stock rose yesterday to its highest level since December 2021, closing above its 320-day moving average for the first time once in more than a year. The stock is back below that trendline today and is down 27.3% year to date.
