Mid-Day Market Update: Crude Oil Down 5.5%; Bioblast Pharma Shares Spike Higher

Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 1.38 percent to 24,673.10 while the NASDAQ declined 0.69 percent to 6,980.19. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.96 percent to 2,664.83.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Tuesday, the health care shares slipped by just 0.1 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Evelo Biosciences Inc EVLO up 12 percent, and AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. AVEO up 9 percent.

In trading on Tuesday, energy shares fell 2.1 percent.

Top Headline

Target Corporation TGT announced weaker-than-expected earnings for its third quarter.

Target posted quarterly earnings of $1.09 per share on revenue of $17.82 billion. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $1.12 per share on revenue of $17.81 billion. Its same-store sales rose 5.1 percent during the quarter.

Target expects FY18 adjusted earnings of $5.30 to $5.50 per share, versus analysts’ estimates of $5.41 per share.

 

Equities Trading UP

Noah Holdings Limited NOAH shares shot up 13 percent to $46.29 following Q3 results. Noah Holdings posted Q3 earnings of $0.50 per share on sales of $122.83 million.

Shares of Bioblast Pharma Ltd. ORPN got a boost, shooting up 19 percent to $1.40 after the company announced it will acquire Enlivex to advance a clinical state immunotherapeutic drug pipeline for treatment of life-threatening immune conditions.

Auris Medical Holding AG EARS shares were also up, gaining 25 percent to $0.6280 after the company announced positive results from its meeting with the FDA for its pre-IND.

 

Equities Trading DOWN

Tarena International, Inc. TEDU shares dropped 15 percent to $7.00 following Q3 results. Tarena International posted Q3 adjusted loss of RMB0.98 per share on sales of RMB699.88 million.

Shares of Eastside Distilling, Inc. EAST were down 15 percent to $6.30. Eastside Drilling priced its 1.235 million share offering at $6.50 per share.

Limbach Holdings, Inc. LMB was down, falling around 14 percent to $5.05. Limbach posted a Q3 loss of $0.46 per share on sales of $135.06 million.

 

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 5.5 percent to $54.06 while gold traded down 0.14 percent to $1,223.60.

Silver traded down 0.72 percent Tuesday to $14.30, while copper fell 0.48 percent to $2.793.

 

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 1.04 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index slipped 1.54 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dropped 1.46 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 1.33 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 1.13 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.54 percent.

Economics

U.S. housing starts rose 1.5 percent at an annual rate of 1.23 million for October. However, economists were expecting a 1.24 million rate.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index rose 0.2 percent during the first two weeks of November versus October.