Mid-Day Market Update: Crude Oil Jumps 19%; Fulgent Genetics Shares Plunge Following Q1 Earnings

Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 1.61% to 24131.01 while the NASDAQ rose 1.91% to 8,877.51. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.76% to 2,892.86.

The U.S. is the new epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic with the highest number of cases and deaths around the world. U.S. reported a total of 1,180,630 coronavirus cases with around 68,930 deaths. Spain confirmed a total of over 218,010 coronavirus cases with 25,420 deaths, while Italy reported a total of at least 211,930 confirmed cases and 29,070 deaths. In total, there were at least 3,601,760 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 251,910 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed by 2.6% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Newpark Resources, Inc. NR, up 13%, and Chesapeake Energy Corporation CHK, up 13%.

In trading on Tuesday, consumer staples shares rose by just 0.7%.

Top Headline

SYSCO Corporation SYY reported downbeat results for its third quarter.

SYSCO reported quarterly earnings of $0.45 per share, which missed the analyst consensus estimate of $0.60. The company reported quarterly sales of $13.699 billion, which missed the analyst consensus estimate of $14.09 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc. PTLA shares shot up 129% to $17.80 after the company announced it will be acquired by Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ALXN for $18 per share in cash.

Shares of Genprex, Inc. GNPX got a boost, shooting 64% to $3.78 after the company reported exclusive global patent and technology license deal for combo of its TUSC2 gene therapy with Immunotherapies.

CleanSpark, Inc. CLSK shares were also up, gaining 97% to $2.69 after the company reported a strong rise in year-to-date revenue through April 2020.

Equities Trading DOWN

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. NCLH shares tumbled 19% to $11.67 after the company reported a $350 million common stock offering. Norwegian Cruise's NCL Corp. reported a $400 million investment by L Catteron.

Shares of Fulgent Genetics, Inc. FLGT were down 20% to $13.25 following downbeat Q1 earnings.

Itron, Inc. ITRI was down, falling 19% to $54.31 after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q1 sales. The company also suspended FY20 guidance.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 19% to $24.27, while gold traded down 0.4% to $1,705.90.

Silver traded up 1.6% Tuesday to $15.035, while copper rose 0.1% to $2.3155.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 2%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.8%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 1.75%. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 2.21%, and the French CAC 40 rose 2.05% while UK shares rose 1.74%.

Economics

The US trade deficit increased to $44.4 billion in March, versus a revised $39.8 billion gap in the prior month. Exports fell 9.6% to $187.7 billion, while imports fell 6.2% to $232.2 billion.

The IHS Markit services PMI slipped to 26.7 in April, versus a preliminary estimate of 27.0.

The ISM non-manufacturing index dropped to 41.8 in April, versus a reading of 52.5 in the prior month.

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard will speak at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is set to speak at 2:00 p.m. ET.