Mid-Day Market Update: Neovasc Jumps After Submitting Approval Application For Neovasc Reducer; EyeGate Pharmaceuticals Shares Plummet

Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.22% to 28398.61 while the NASDAQ fell 0.08% to 8938.93. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.16% to 3,216.21.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Materials shares climbed 0.2% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Great Panther Mining Limited (NYSE: GPL), up 5%, and Timkensteel Corp (NYSE: TMST), up 4%.

In trading on Tuesday, communication services shares fell 0.3%.

Top Headline

Seadrill Limited (NYSE: SDRL) announced a contract extension for AOD II and AOD III in the Middle East, in direct continuation of their current contracts.

The total contract value is expected to be approximately $98 million and $101 million, respectively.

Equities Trading UP

Neovasc Inc. (NASDAQ: NVCN) shares shot up 70% to $6.73 after the company submitted its premarket approval application to the FDA for its Neovasc Reducer product.

Shares of Oncolytics Biotech Inc. (NASDAQ: ONCY) got a boost, shooting up 25% to $4.83 after jumping 36.27% on Monday.

Sol-Gel Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: SLGL) shares were also up, gaining 25% to $18.32. Jefferies raised the price target of Sol-Gel from $14 to $24, while H.C. Wainwright raised the price target from $23 to $26.

Equities Trading DOWN

Core Laboratories N.V. (NYSE: CLB) shares tumbled 20% to $38.10 after the company issued soft Q4 and Q1 guidance and reduced its quarterly dividend, citing a decline in US offshore activity and slower-than-expected client discussions.

Shares of EyeGate Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: EYEG) were down 18% to $10.02 amid access wire press release showing 500,000 share stock offering priced at $10 per share.

Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKRO) was down, falling 10% to $24.62 after gaining 18.2% on Monday.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.8% to $61.17, while gold traded up 0.6% to $1,527.30.

Silver traded up 0.1% Tuesday to $18.015, while copper fell 1.1% to $2.8035.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 0.08%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.66%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 1.06%. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.66%, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.07% while UK shares fell 0.59%.

Economics

The S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index increased 2.2% year-over-year in October, versus a 2.1% gain in the prior month.

The FHFA House Price Index rose 0.2% in October, versus a revised 0.7% increase in the prior month.

The Conference Board consumer confidence index fell to 126.5 in December, versus a prior revised reading of 126.8.