Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Crude Oil Down 1%; CPI Aerostructures Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.12 percent to 20,988.06 while the NASDAQ gained 0.25 percent to 6,117.81. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.07 percent to 2,397.66.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Cyclical consumer goods & services sector was the top gainer in the US market on Tuesday. Top gainers in the sector included M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. MDC, Delta Apparel, Inc. DLA, and Commercial Vehicle Group, Inc. CVGI.

In trading on Tuesday, energy shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.57 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Tesco Corporation (USA) TESO, down 7 percent, and Northern Oil & Gas, Inc. NOG, down 8 percent.

Top Headline

Dean Foods Co DF posted weaker-than-expected earnings for its first quarter on Tuesday.

Dean Foods said it earned $0.13 per share in the first quarter on revenue of $2.00 billion; Analysts were expecting the company to earn $0.18 per share on revenue of $1.097 billion.

Dean Foods expects FY 2017 earnings of $1.35 to $1.55 per share, versus analysts’ estimates of $1.40 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Cleantech Solutions International Inc CLNT shares shot up 72 percent to $5.64 as YSK 1860 Co reported a 29.4 percent stake in Cleantech after the close on Monday.

Shares of CPI Aerostructures, Inc. CVU got a boost, shooting up 25 percent to $7.10 after the company posted upbeat Q1 results.

Wayfair Inc W shares were also up, gaining 25 percent to $63.71 after first-quarter earnings boasted a 2.7-percent sales beat and 46-percent year-over-year increase in active customers.

Equities Trading DOWN

SCYNEXIS Inc SCYX shares dropped 33 percent to $1.69. Scynexis reported a Q1 loss of $6.4 million on revenue of $64,000.

Shares of Fulgent Genetics Inc FLGT were down around 32 percent to $7.25 as the company posted weak Q1 results.

Neonode, Inc NEON was down, falling around 27 percent to $1.18. Neonode reported a Q1 loss of $0.02 per share on sales of $2.3 million.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.03 percent to $45.95 while gold traded down 0.86 percent to $1,216.50.

Silver traded down 0.91 percent Tuesday to $16.11, while copper rose 0.14 percent to $2.497.

Eurozone

European shares closed mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 0.45 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.42 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index jumped 0.27 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.43 percent, and the French CAC 40 surged 0.28 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.57 percent.

Economics

U.S. job openings rose to 5.73 million in March, versus a downwardly-revised figure of 5.68 million for February, according to the Labor Department's JOLTS report. However, economists were expecting job opening to reach 5.67 million.

U.S. wholesale inventories rose 0.20 percent for March, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.10 percent decline.

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan is set to speak in Dallas at 4:15 p.m. ET.