Market Update (10/20)

October 20, 2020 at 9:29 pm - by Editor Investors Prism

Investors are trying to find a reason to bid stocks higher. On Tuesday, Monday’s pessimism turned to cautious optimism as new hopes for an economic stimulus package is said to be in late-stage negotiations. The hope is that a deal can be reached before the November elections to help drive retail sales, travel, and holiday spending higher.

That bit of confidence lifted stocks on Tuesday. At the close on Monday, the $DJI gained 0.40% to 28,308.49. The NASDAQ Composite jumped to 11,516.49, up 0.33%. The S&P 500 gained 0.47% to 3443.18. The Russell 2000 also followed the bullish trend to close higher by 0.35% to 1619.13.

The InvestorsPrism family of indexes ended the day mixed. The PRISM Emerging Gene Therapy index closed lower by 0.6%, with Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (ARWR, +9.31%) staying positive to lead the advancers. The PRISM Emerging MedCannabis index closed lower by 2.2% on the day. The PRISM Emerging MedDevices index traded flat by 0.0%. Pro-Dex, Inc. (PDEX, +17.82%) was the star of that index, closing sharply higher on heavy volume.

Other PRISM indexes closed lower. The PRISM Emerging MedDiagnostics index moved lower by 1.7%. The PRISM Emerging New Economy index closed lower by 0.4%, and the PRISM Emerging Pet Care & AgriBiz index closed lower by 1.8% on the day. The biotech heavy PRISM Emerging Vaccines & Cell Therapy index closed lower by 3.2%, but Mesoblast Ltd. (MESO, +5.51%) bucked the bearish trend to move nicely to $11.87 per share.

The top commodities are mostly higher at the 4:00pm ET mark. Crude Oil is trading higher to $41.51. Gold is higher to $1913.10 per oz., and Silver is also trading modestly higher from Monday’s 4pm price at $24.86 oz. Bitcoin ($BTC) is now flirting with the $12,000 level and is currently trading hands at $11,901.13 as of 4pm est.

*data as of market close at 4pm est on 10/20/20