Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Higher; Jabil Beats Q1 Expectations

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.10% to 28,264.14 while the NASDAQ rose 0.03% to 8,816.68. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.11% to 3,195.03.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed 0.6% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Renewable Energy Group, Inc. REGI, up 28%, and Tallgrass Energy, LP TGE, up 21%.

In trading on Tuesday, information technology shares fell 0.2%.

Top Headline

Jabil Inc. JBL reported better-than-expected Q1 EPS and sales results.

Jabil posted quarterly earnings of $1.05 per share, versus analysts’ estimates of $0.94 per share. The company reported sales of $7.506 billion, versus expectations of $6.95 billion.

For fiscal 2020, Jabil raised its adjusted earnings guidance to $3.60 per share from $3.45 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Tallgrass Energy, LP TGE shares shot up 21% to $22.17 after the company announced it will be acquired by Blackstone Infrastructure Partners for $22.45 per share.

Shares of ImmunoGen, Inc. IMGN got a boost, shooting up 16% to $4.52 after the FDA advised the company that a new single-arm study in ovarian cancer could support accelerated approval for Mirvetuximab Soravtansine. Based on FDA feedback, the company will initiated a new pivotal trial.

Prevail Therapeutics Inc. PRVL shares were also up, gaining 16% to $17.70. Prevail Therapeutics said the FDA has given Orphan Drug designation toits gene therapy candidate PR006 for the treatment of patients with frontemporal dementia with a GRN mutation.

Equities Trading DOWN

Proteostasis Therapeutics, Inc. PTI shares tumbled 47% to $2.32 after the company reported results from its Phase 2 study evaluating CFTR Modulator combinations in F508del homozygous Cystic Fibrosis patients.

Shares of Adamas Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ADMS were down 45% to $3.99 after reporting top-line results from INROADS Phase 3 trial of ADS-5102 for multiple sclerosis patients with walking impairment.

MEI Pharma, Inc. MEIP was down, falling 23% to $1.7750 after the company priced 28.125 million share common stock offering at $1.60 per share.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 0.3% to $60.39, while gold traded up 0.2% to $1,483.30.

Silver traded up 0.1% Tuesday to $17.12, while copper rose 0.1% to $2.8135.

Euro zone


European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.8%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.7%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.3%. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.8%, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.4% while UK shares fell 0.2%.

Economics

U.S. housing starts rose 3.2% to an annual rate of 1.365 million units in November, versus revised 1.323 million in the prior month. Building permits rose 1.4% to an annual rate of 1,482 thousand in November.

U.S. industrial production rose 1.1% in November, compared to 0.9% drop in October.

The number of job openings climbed to 7.267 million in October, versus revised 7.032 million in the prior month, according to the Labor Department's JOLTS report.

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams will speak at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren is set to speak at 1:00 p.m. ET.