Mid-Morning Market Update: Gold Down 1.6%; Socket Mobile Shares Surge Higher

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.09% to 31,458.40, while the NASDAQ rose 0.50% to 14,095.47. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.47% to 3,934.83.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed 1.4% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Torchlight Energy Resources, Inc. TRCH, up 26.11%, and Nordic American Tankers Limited NAT, up 14.29%.

In trading on Tuesday, utilities shares fell 0.79%.

Top Headline

Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR reported its December quarter earnings and revenue ahead of the estimates.

The stock fell 7.21% to $29.61, after it announced its full year 2021 earnings guidance slightly below expectations.

Equities Trading UP

Socket Mobile, Inc. SCKT shares shot up 191.67% to $9.45, driven by heavy volumes after the company unveiled its DuraSled scanner for iPhone 12s.

ALJ Regional Holdings, Inc. ALJJ was up, rising 104.51% to $2.72, after the company announced its first quarter results, ended December 31, 2020.

Shares of 500.com Limited WBAI surged 66.85% to $233.37, after the company announced that it has entered into a share exchange agreement with Cayman Islands-based Blockchain Alliance Technologies Holding Company.

Equities Trading DOWN

bluebird bio, Inc. BLUE shares tumbled 27.67% to $33.10.

Shares of Hepion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. HEPA were down 27.10% to $2.16.

Neptune Wellness Solutions Inc. NEPT was down, falling 28.57% to $2.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.64% to $59.85, while gold traded down 1.57% to $1,794.60.

Silver traded down 0.23% Tuesday to $27.26, while copper rose 0.83% to $3.82.

Euro zone

European shares declined across the board today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.10%, the Spanish Ibex Index declined 0.86%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.71%. Meanwhile, the German DAX was down 0.30%, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.26% while UK shares fell 0.20%

Economics

The Overall Net Capital Flows data for December will be released at 4:00 p.m. ET. The US recorded a capital and financial account surplus of $214.1 billion November 2020, following an upwardly revised $11.1 billion outflow in October.