Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Falls Over 100 Points; Nuvectra Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.43% to 25,786.62 while the NASDAQ fell 0.41% to 7,821.72. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.33% to 2,868.98.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares climbed 0.6% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Sunnova Energy International Inc. NOVA, up 3%, and WEC Energy Group, Inc. WEC, up 2%.

In trading on Tuesday, financial shares fell 0.9%.

Top Headline

J M Smucker Co SJM reported worse-than-expected first-quarter EPS and sales results. The company also cut fiscal year 2020 EPS guidance.

JM Smucker reported quarterly earnings of $1.58 per share, which missed the analyst consensus estimate of $1.74. The company reported quarterly sales of $1.779 billion, which missed the analyst consensus estimate of $1.87 billion.

J. M. Smucker cut fiscal year 2020 EPS guidance from $8.45-$8.65 to $8.35-$8.55 versus the $8.47 estimate.

Equities Trading UP

Nuvectra Corporation NVTR shares shot up 45% to $2.07 after the company announced it is exploring strategic alternatives, including a potential sale or merger.

Shares of Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores, Inc. SHOS got a boost, shooting up 31% to $3.35 after the company agreed to sell Outlet business as well as its Buddy's Home Furnishings Stores to Liberty Tax for $132.9 million.

Digital Ally, Inc. DGLY shares were also up, gaining 44% to $1.2123 after the company received patent 732, which is a breathalyzers device incorporated into the body camera to capture meta-data for law enforcement when conducting sobriety tests.

Equities Trading DOWN

Lancaster Colony Corporation LANC shares tumbled 9% to $140.27 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q4 EPS and sales results.

Shares of Mallinckrodt plc MNK were down 17% to $3.505 after the company lost an appeal in the INOmax patent dispute with Praxair.

J.Jill, Inc. JILL was down, falling 17% to $1.7350 despite the company reporting better-than-expected Q2 earnings results. The company expects Q3 comparable sales to decrease 1% to 3%.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2.2% to $54.81, while gold traded up 1% to $1,552.00.

Silver traded up 3.1% Tuesday to $18.18, while copper rose 0.3% to $2.55.

Euro zone

European shares closed mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.63%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.57%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 1.52%. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 0.62% and the French CAC 40 gained 0.67% while UK shares fell 0.08%.

Economics

The S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller home price index increased 2.1 percent year-over-year in June, versus a 2.4 percent rise in the prior month.

The FHFA house price index rose 0.2 percent versus a month earlier for June.

The Conference Board consumer confidence index dropped to 135.1 in August, compared to a revised reading of 135.8 in July.

The Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index rose to 1 in August, versus a prior reading of (12).