Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Dicks Sporting Goods Earnings Beat Expectations

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded up 3.33% to 24645.03 while the NASDAQ rose 3.65% to 8240.61. The S&P also rose, gaining 3.44% to 2,841.01. President Donald Trump said he would announce 'very dramatic' actions to dilute the economic impact from the coronavirus outbreak. South Korea confirmed 131 new coronavirus cases, while mainland China reported 19 new confirmed cases. Italy extended quarantine restrictions to the whole country after reporting a total of at least 9,100 cases and 463 deaths. In total, there are at least 114,000 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 4,000 deaths.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares jumped 4.2% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Enable Midstream Partners, LP ENBL, up 69%, and Ovintiv Inc. OVV, up 35%.

In trading on Tuesday, utilities shares rose by just 2.1%.

Top Headline

Dicks Sporting Goods Inc DKS reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Tuesday.

Dick's Sporting posted Q4 adjusted earnings of $1.32 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.22 per share. Its sales came in at $2.609 billion, versus the consensus estimate of $2.57 billion.

DICK'S said it expects FY20 adjusted earnings of $3.69 per shares, versus analysts’ estimates of $3.60 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Cypress Semiconductor Corporation CY shares shot up 46% to $22.25 after the company received clearance from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to be acquired by Infineon. CFRA upgraded Cypress Semiconductor from Hold to Buy.

Shares of Ovintiv Inc. OVV got a boost, shooting 26% to $2.81 after dropping 72% on Monday. Ovintiv said it is reducing near-term capital spending to ensure company maintains free cash neutrality in current market conditions.

Yield10 Bioscience, Inc. YTEN shares were also up, gaining 19% to $5.75 after the company achieved 'key milestones' in early development program in corn to evaluate novel traits.

Equities Trading DOWN

Spherix Incorporated SPEX shares tumbled 48% to $1.69 after surging over 96% on Monday.

Shares of AIM ImmunoTech Inc. AIM were down 37% to $3.83. • AIM ImmunoTech shares surged over 190% on Monday amid the continued global coronavirus spread. The company's Ampligen is being tested by Japan's National Institute of Infectious Diseases as a potential coronavirus treatment.

Enzo Biochem, Inc. ENZ was down, falling 31% to $2.66 after rising around 14% on Monday.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 8.7% to $33.85, while gold traded down 0.7% to $1,663.70.

Silver traded up 0.2% Tuesday to $17.095, while copper rose 1.5% to $2.5485.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 2.4% the Spanish Ibex Index rose 3.1%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 2.3% Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 2.8%, and the French CAC 40 rose 3.4% while UK shares rose 3.8%.

Economics

The NFIB small business optimism index increased 0.2 point to a reading of 104.5 in February.

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