Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Lower; AutoZone Earnings Top Estimates

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.10% to 30,040.36 while the NASDAQ fell 0.24% to 12,490.14. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.16% to 3,686.22.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 14,955,020 cases with around 283,740 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 9,703,770 confirmed cases and 140,950 deaths, while Brazil reported over 6,623,910 COVID-19 cases with 177,310 deaths. In total, there were at least 67,671,090 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 1,546,420 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors


Energy shares climbed 1.3% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Gran Tierra Energy Inc. GTE, up 27%, and QEP Resources, Inc. QEP, up 8%.


In trading on Tuesday, utilities shares fell 1%.


Top Headline

AutoZone, Inc. AZO reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its first quarter.

AutoZone reported quarterly earnings of $18.61 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $17.77 per share. The company’s sales came in at $3.15 billion, versus expectations of $3.16 billion.

 


Equities Trading UP


NeuroMetrix, Inc. NURO shares shot up 88% to $4.04 after climbing over 9% on Monday.


Shares of Stitch Fix, Inc. SFIX got a boost, shooting 38% to $49.53 after the company reported stronger-than-expected Q1 result. The company’s Q1 active clients were up 10% year over year. KeyBanc and Needham raised their price targets on the stock.
 

Curis, Inc. CRIS shares were also up, gaining 363% to $6.66 after the company announced "positive" preliminary data from an ongoing Phase 1 study of CA-4948 monotherapy in patients with leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes.


Equities Trading DOWN

Obalon Therapeutics, Inc. OBLN shares tumbled 22% to $1.8006 after jumping 115% on Monday.

Shares of Trillium Therapeutics Inc. TRIL were down 21% to $12.18. Trillium Therapeutics presented at the ASH conference with updated data for TTI-622, which is being evaluated as a monotherapy in patients with advanced relapsed or refractory lymphoma. The company also issued guidance for 2021.

Conn's, Inc. CONN was down, falling 19% to $11.44 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q3 sales.


Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 0.8% to $45.39, while gold traded down 0.1% to $1,865.00.


Silver traded down 0.8% Tuesday to $24.605 while copper fell 1.3% to $3.4710.


Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.4%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.6%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.7%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 dropped 0.3%, French CAC 40 fell 0.7% and London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.5%.

The Eurozone economy expanded 12.5% in the third quarter, versus a record plunge of 11.7% in the earlier period. French payroll employment in the private sector rose 1.6% in the third quarter versus a preliminary estimate of 1.8% increase.


Economics


The NFIB small business optimism index dropped to 101.4 in November compared to 104.0 in the prior month.


US nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased by an annualized rate of 4.6% in the third quarter versus a 10.6% rise in the prior quarter. Unit labor costs dropped 6.6% in the quarter compared to a revised 12.3% increase in the previous period.


The Treasury will auction 3-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

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