Mid-Day Market Update: Dow Falls 240 Points; Medigus Shares Spike Higher

Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.97 percent to 24,658.62 while the NASDAQ declined 1.02 percent to 7,335.39. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.87 percent to 2,706.44.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Tuesday, the financial shares fell by just 0.07 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Fanhua Inc. FANH, up 9 percent, and BBVA Banco Francés S.A. BFR up 9 percent.

In trading on Tuesday, real estate shares fell 1.72 percent.

Top Headline

Home Depot Inc HD reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter, while sales missed estimates.

Home Depot posted Q1 earnings of $2.08 per share on sales of $24.947 billion. Analysts expected earnings of $2.06 per share on sales of $25.22 billion. Sales at stores open at least a year increased 4.2 percent.

Home Depot expects FY18 sales to grow by 6.7 percent, and earnings growth of 28 percent.

Equities Trading UP

Euro Tech Holdings Company Limited CLWT shares shot up 49 percent to $4.775 after reporting 2017 year-end results.

Shares of Medigus Ltd. MDGS got a boost, shooting up 34 percent to $1.5092 in reaction to its Monday announcement of a distribution agreement. The medical device company said it reached an agreement to distribute its minimally invasive medical devices in Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

Aytu BioScience, Inc. AYTU shares were also up, gaining 18 percent to $0.465 after the company late Monday reported lighter-than-expected Q1 loss.

Equities Trading DOWN

Image Sensing Systems, Inc. ISNS shares dropped 26 percent to $3.5001 after reporting earnings were down year over year. First quarter earnings came in flat, down from 4 cents per share in the same quarter of last year. Sales came in at $3.01 million.

Shares of Cesca Therapeutics Inc. KOOL were down 24 percent to $0.8552 after reporting Q1 results.

Netshoes (Cayman) Limited NETS was down, falling around 38 percent to $3.15 as the company posted downbeat Q1 results.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.44 percent to $70.65 while gold traded down 1.85 percent to $1,293.80.

Silver traded down 2.10 percent Tuesday to $16.295, while copper fell 1.26 to $3.054.
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Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.05 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.49 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.31 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX fell 0.06 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.23 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.16 percent.

Economics

U.S. retail sales rose 0.3 percent for April, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.4 percent gain.

The Empire State manufacturing index climbed to a reading of 20.1 in May, versus 15.8 in April However, economists expected a reading of 15.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index rose 0.8 percent during the first week of May versus April.

U.S. business inventories were unchanged for May, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.3 percent rise.

The NAHB housing market index rose to 70.00 in May, versus revised reading of 68. Economists projected a reading of 70.00.

The Treasury International Capital report for March is schedule for release at 4:00 p.m. ET.