Dow Turns Higher; Crude Oil Rises Over 3%

U.S. stocks traded higher toward the end of trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining over 80 points on Tuesday.

The Dow traded up 0.05% to 33,906.31 while the NASDAQ rose 0.69% to 11,969.79. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.40% to 4,127.37.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

• Energy shares rose by 1.9% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included BP p.l.c. BP, up 8%, and Scorpio Tankers Inc. STNG, up 5%.
• In trading on Tuesday, consumer discretionary shares dipped by 1%.

Top Headline

Imports to the US increased by $4.2 billion to $317.6 billion in December, while exports fell by $2.2 billion to $250.2 billion. The trade deficit in the US increased to $67.4 billion in December, versus a revised $61 billion in the prior month.

Equities Trading UP

• SelectQuote, Inc. SLQT shares shot up 66% to $1.43 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 EPS and sales results and raised the lower end of its FY23 sales guidance above estimates.
• Shares of Lixte Biotechnology Holdings, Inc. LIXT got a boost, shooting 130% to $1.8650 after the company reported on findings from a team of scientists that its LB-100, combined with an inhibitor of the WEE1 kinase, caused effective cancer cell killing.
• SeqLL Inc. SQL shares were also up, gaining 197% to $1.6017 after the company announced the establishment of a two-year Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice's Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. BBBY shares tumbled 48% to $3.0450 after the company announced a proposed $225 million offering of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock and warrants.
• Shares of Holley Inc. HLLY were down 30% to $2.3850 after the company reported preliminary Q4 and FY22 net sales results below estimates and announced a CEO transition. Also, Telsey Advisory Group downgraded the stock from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered its price target from $5 to $3.
• My Size, Inc. MYSZ was down, falling 22% to $2.24 after the company announced it received a Notice of Patent Allowance in Canada for its AI & algorithm-driven measurement solution.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 3.4% to $76.64 while gold traded up 0.1% at $1,881.30.

Silver traded down 0.5% to $22.125 on Monday while copper rose 0.1% to $4.0405.

Euro zone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.23%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.36% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.14%. The German DAX fell 0.16% French CAC 40 fell 0.07% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.36%.

France's government budget deficit fell to EUR 152 billion from EUR 171 billion in the year-ago period, while current account deficit in the country widened to EUR 8.5 billion in December. Industrial production in Spain climbed by 0.6% year-over-year in December.

The Halifax house price index in the UK rose by 1.9% year-over-year in January, while industrial production in Germany fell by 3.1% month-over-month in December.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Tuesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropping 0.03%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gaining 0.36% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index gaining 0.29%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex dropped 0.37%.

China's foreign exchange reserves increased to $3.184 trillion at the end of January. The Reserve Bank of Australia increased the cash rate by 25bps to 3.35% at its recent meeting. Foreign exchange reserves in Japan rose to $1.25 trillion in January.

Economics

Imports to the US increased by $4.2 billion to $317.6 billion in December, while exports fell by $2.2 billion to $250.2 billion. The trade deficit in the US increased to $67.4 billion in December, versus a revised $61 billion in the prior month.

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COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 104,509,260 cases with around 1,136,440 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,683,540 cases and 530,740 deaths, while France reported over 39,543,110 COVID-19 cases with 164,420 deaths. In total, there were at least 676,500,800 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,773,750 deaths.