Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mixed; Pier 1 Imports Posts Wider Q3 Loss

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.12% to 28668.81 while the NASDAQ rose 0.14% to 9083.89. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.09% to 3243.29.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Materials shares climbed 0.4% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. MBII, up 15%, and Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. TRQ, up 5%.

In trading on Tuesday, real estate shares fell 1.3%.

Top Headline

Pier 1 Imports PIR announced concerning Q3 results and a cost-reduction initiative which, among other things, will cut its store count by about 450 locations.

The retailer posted a quarterly net loss of $60 million, or $14.15 a share, versus a year-ago net loss of $50.4 million, or $12.49 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Cellect Biotechnology Ltd. APOP shares shot up 101% to $4.8203 after the company announced it has received 'intention to grant' patents from European and Israeli patent offices.

Shares of Apache Corporation APA got a boost, shooting up 23% to $31.57 after the company, along with Total SA announced a significant oil discovery at the Maka Central-1 well drilled offshore Suriname.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. APLS shares were also up, gaining 23% to $37.01 after the company announced that its Pegcetacoplan met its primary endpoint in the PEGASUS study.

Equities Trading DOWN

Pier 1 Imports, Inc. PIR shares tumbled 19% to $4.1792 after the company announced concerning Q3 results and a cost-reduction initiative which, among other things, will cut its store count by about 450 locations.

Shares of CTI Industries Corporation CTIB were down 17% to $2.16 after the company has executed a non-binding letter of intent to divest its subsidiary in Guadalajara, Mexico for approximately $4 million.

Cassava Sciences, Inc. SAVA was down, falling 17% to $7.18.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 0.9% to $62.73, while gold traded down 0.1% to $1,568.70.

Silver traded up 0.2% Tuesday to $18.215, while copper fell 0.1% to $2.7895.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.2%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.1%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.5%. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.6%, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.1% while UK shares rose 0.1%.

Economics

The US trade deficit shrank to $43.1 billion in November, versus a revised $46.9 billion gap in the prior month.

U.S. factory orders fell 0.7% in November, versus market expectations of a 0.8% drop.

The ISM non-manufacturing PMI rose to 55 in December, versus 53.9 in November.

The Treasury is set to auction 3-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.