The major averages spent most of the morning in the red thanks to a variety of factors, including a historic plunge in Q2 GDP, Fed Chair Powell's warning yesterday that high frequency data suggest a slowdown in the rate of recovery, GOP debate over the size and allocations in the next round of stimulus and President Trump's tweet about the potential for a contested election. However, the Nasdaq had clawed its way back to flat near midday and finished the day in the green ahead of this afternoon's reports from the mega-cap tech quartet of Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), and Facebook (FB).
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., gross domestic product is estimated to have contracted at a historic 32.9% annualized rate in the second quarter, although this was a modestly smaller drop than feared. Initial jobless claims rose 12,000 to 1.43M in the week ended July 25.
In COVID-19 news, Florida reported 461,379 viruses cases in the state, up from 451,423 yesterday, while Arizona reported an increase of 2,525 cases and California reported 10,197 new cases. Additionally, the Associated Press reported that Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has issued a statewide mask mandate for all enclosed spaces except a person's home amid a spike in coronavirus cases.
Meanwhile, CNBC reported that the U.S. Senate has failed to advance a proposed extension of unemployment benefits of $200 per week. Senate Republicans attempted to gain support for extending unemployment benefits but cutting the weekly amount to $200 from $600, but Senate Democrats objected to that, trying to pass their version of a stimulus package, which is also expected to fail, according to CNBC.
TOP NEWS: Procter & Gamble (PG) shares rose 2.3% after the company reported better than expected fourth quarter results and provided EPS guidance for fiscal 2021. Of note, the company said on its quarterly conference call that e-commerce organic sales grew 40% in fiscal 2020.
Shares of Qualcomm (QCOM) surged 15.2% after it reported upbeat Q3 earnings and revenue and provided guidance for Q4. In addition, Qualcomm said it entered into a settlement agreement, as well as a new long-term, global patent license agreement, with Huawei, including a cross license granting back rights to certain of Huawei's patents, covering sales beginning January 1, 2020.
UPS (UPS) shares jumped 14.2% after the company reported upbeat quarterly results, though it declined to provide guidance due to uncertainty around the timing and pace of the economic recovery.
Meanwhile, Mastercard (MA) closed fractionally lower after the company reported better than expected Q2 earnings and revenue but noted that gross dollar volume and purchase volume fell a respective 10% and 9% in the quarter. The company added that it was not providing guidance for Q3 or FY20.
In other earnings news, Comcast (CMCSA) and Kellogg (K) both declined fractionally after reporting quarterly results.
In non-earnings news, CNBC reported that United Airlines (UAL) management told pilots in a memo that more furloughs will be required as bookings have stalled and even started to pull back once again, with up to 3,900 pilots impacted
In addition, Reuters reported that Senators Richard Blumenthal and Josh Hawley have called on the U.S. Justice Department to investigate video technology company Zoom (ZM) and social media firm TikTok. "Based on numerous reports, we are extremely concerned that Zoom and TikTok have disclosed private information about Americans to the PRC and engaged in censorship on behalf of the Chinese government," they said in the letter.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers were At Home Group (HOME) and Overstock.com (OSTK), which gained 33.5% and 25.4%, respectively, after reporting quarterly results.
Among the notable losers was Spectrum (SPPI), which slid 20.1% after its 21.7M share spot secondary offering priced at $3.00 per share. Also lower were Kraton (KRA) and Garrett Motion (GTX), which fell 23.7% and 13.3%, respectively, after reporting quarterly results.
INDEXES: The Dow fell 225.92, or 0.85%, to 26,313.65, the Nasdaq gained 44.87, or 0.43%, to 10,587.81, and the S&P 500 declined 12.22, or 0.38%, to 3,246.22.
Procter & Gamble
+2.875 (+2.24%)
Qualcomm
+13.835 (+14.82%)
UPS
+17.67 (+14.28%)
MasterCard
-0.58 (-0.19%)
Comcast
-0.26 (-0.59%)
Kellanova
-0.36 (-0.51%)
United Airlines
-0.86 (-2.64%)
Zoom Video
-2.56 (-1.01%)
At Home Group
+3.14 (+33.26%)
OSTK
+
Spectrum
-0.775 (-19.92%)
Kraton
-4.4 (-23.88%)
Garrett Motion
-0.86 (-12.22%)