The Dow was last seen up nearly 300 points
The major indexes are strengthening their morning gains into the afternoon as they look to snap two-day losing streaks. The Dow was last seen up 290 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq sport notable midday wins of their own. Wall Street is trying to shrug off the global tumult caused by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Taiwan. Instead, investors are focusing on another round of earnings, with upbeat results from both Moderna (MRNA) and CVS Health (CVS).
Promising economic data is also giving markets a push, after the ISM non-manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) came in at 56.7 in July, up from June's 55.3 reading and marking a surprise rebound for the index. What's more, factory orders for June rose to a better-than-expected 2%.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- A sudden CEO departure sent Match stock to multi-year lows.
- The fintech concern surging after earnings.
- Plus, HOOD shares big layoff update; monkeypox test updates give APDN a boost; and MTC turns volatile.
Robinhood Markets Inc (NASDAQ:HOOD) is seeing a surge in its options pits today, amid news that the company will cut roughly 23% of its workforce. The crypto company also posted a slimmer-than-expected loss of 34 cents per share for its second quarter, though its revenue missed the mark. Plus, there was a drop in monthly active users and assets under custody. HOOD was last seen up 13.3% at $10.49, though it still sports a 43.3% year-to-date deficit. Circling back to options, HOOD has seen 37,000 calls and 30,000 puts exchanged so far, which is seven times the intraday average. The most popular is the weekly 8/5 10-strike call, followed by the 8.50-strike put in the same series, with positions being sold-to-open at the latter.
One of the best performing stocks on the Nasdaq today is Applied DNA Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:APDN). The equity was last seen up 75% at $4.90 after the firm said it initiated analytical validation of a PCR-based test for the monkeypox virus. APDN has added a whopping 630.8% in the last week alone after breaking out past long-term pressure at the 40-day moving average yesterday.
One of the worst stocks on the Nasdaq today is MMTec Inc (NASDAQ:MTC), last seen down 33.4% at $5.23. The stock has been particularly volatile lately, and while the catalyst for this volatility isn't readily apparent, the equity surged to its highest level since December 2021 yesterday, closing above the 320-day moving average for the first time in over a year. The stock is back below this trendline today, and is staring at a 27.3% year-to-date deficit.