Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Cal-Maine Foods Posts Upbeat Sales

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded down 0.48 percent to 23,987.54 while the NASDAQ declined 1.48 percent to 6,959.06. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.95 percent to 2,615.82.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Monday morning, the utilities shares gained 0.32 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Korea Electric Power Corporation KEP, up 2 percent, and Ameren Corporation AEE, up 2 percent.

In trading on Monday, consumer discretionary shares fell 1.35 percent.

Top Headline

Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. CALM reported better-than-expected sales for its third quarter.

Cal-Maine reported net income of $96.3 million, or $1.99 per share, compared to $4.1 million, or $0.09 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding items, the company earned $1.27 per share.

Its sales rose 42 percent to $435.8 million, exceeding analysts’ estimates of $432.65 million. Dozens of eggs sold increased to 273.2 million versus 263.6 million.

Equities Trading UP

SELLAS Life Sciences Group, Inc. SLS shares shot up 68 percent to $5.80 after the company disclosed positive interim data from its Phase 2b NeuVax trial.

Shares of Commvault Systems, Inc. CVLT got a boost, shooting up 12 percent to $64.05 after Elliott Management disclosed a 10.3 percent stake in Commvault and announced intent to nominate 4 candidates to the board.

BioLife Solutions, Inc. BLFS shares were also up, gaining 10 percent to $5.61 after the company reported preliminary revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2018.

Equities Trading DOWN

SORL Auto Parts, Inc. SORL shares dropped 18 percent to $5.35 after the company reported downbeat earnings for its fourth quarter.

Shares of Alkermes plc ALKS were down 19 percent to $46.69 after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it won't review the company's therapy ALKS-5461. Alkermes, which mostly focuses on treatments for central nervous system diseases, said in a press release it received a Refusal to File letter from the FDA regarding its New Drug Application (NDA) for ALKS-5461.

SYNNEX Corporation SNX was down, falling around 15 percent to $100.51. SYNNEX posted upbeat earnings for its first quarter, but issued weak earnings outlook for the current quarter.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.38 percent to $65.19 while gold traded up 0.85 percent to $1,338.60.

Silver traded up 2.07 percent Monday to $16.605, while copper rose 1.32 percent to $3.0655.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.44 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index gained 0.48 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 0.36 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX rose 0.88 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.65 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.10 percent.

Economics

The Markit manufacturing PMI declined to 55.60 for March, from a prior reading of 55.70. Economists projected a reading of 55.70.

U.S construction spending rose 0.1 percent for February, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.4 percent growth.

The ISM manufacturing index fell to 59.30 for March, versus prior reading of 60.80. However, economists were expecting a reading of 60.10.

The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari is set to speak in Duluth, Minnesota at 6:00 p.m. ET.