Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Francesca's Drops On Earnings Miss; Revance Therapeutics Shares Gain

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.09 percent to 24,268.65 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.39 percent to 6,801.80. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.05 percent to 2,640.71.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Tuesday afternoon, the information technology sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from 3D Systems Corporation DDD and Ceragon Networks Ltd. CRNT.

In trading on Tuesday, utilities shares fell 1.15 percent.

Top Headline

Toll Brothers, Inc. TOL reported downbeat results for its fourth quarter.

Toll Brothers posted quarterly earnings of $1.17 per share on revenue of $2.03 billion. However, analysts expected earnings of $1.19 per share on revenue of $2.08 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Revance Therapeutics, Inc. RVNC shares shot up 38 percent to $35.90 after the company disclosed that its RT002 met primary and all secondary endpoints.

Shares of Moleculin Biotech, Inc. MBRX got a boost, shooting up 19 percent to $2.16 after the company disclosed that its WP1066 drug has received the FDA brain tumor IND clearance.

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. BNED shares were also up, gaining 19 percent to $7.48 after the company reported Q2 results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Galectin Therapeutics, Inc. GALT shares dropped 34 percent to $1.64 as the company reported that its Phase 2b NASH-CX trial did not meet its primary endpoint.

Shares of Ascena Retail Group, Inc. ASNA were down 24 percent to $1.985. Ascena Retail reported in-line earnings for its first quarter. The company reported a 5 percent drop in its Q1 comps and issued weak second quarter guidance.

Francesca's Holdings Corporation FRAN was down, falling around 9 percent to $7.09 following downbeat quarterly earnings.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.33 percent to $57.68 while gold traded down 1.01 percent to $1,264.80.

Silver traded down 1.88 percent Tuesday to $16.065, while copper fell 4.42 percent to $2.9535.

Eurozone

European shares closed mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.19 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.03 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index jumped 0.24 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX slipped 0.08 percent, and the French CAC 40 dipped 0.26 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.16 percent.

Economics

U.S. trade deficit rose 8.6 percent to $48.7 billion in October.

The ISM non-manufacturing index dropped to 57.40 in November, versus prior reading of 60.10. However, economists projected a reading of 59.10.