Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; FactSet Research Beats Q1 Estimates

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded down 1.31% to 29,782.55 while the NASDAQ fell 1.74% to 12,533.20. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.89% to 3,639.18.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 17,847,630 cases with around 317,680 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 10,055,560 confirmed cases and 145,810 deaths, while Brazil reported over 7,238,600 COVID-19 cases with 186,760 deaths. In total, there were at least 76,895,580 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 1,694,710 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Financial shares slipped by just by 0.2% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Silvergate Capital Corporation SI, up 12%, and Root, Inc. ROOT, up 11%.

In trading on Monday, energy shares dipped 2.4%.

Top Headline

FactSet Research Systems Inc. FDS reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its first quarter.

FactSet Research posted quarterly earnings of $2.88 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $2.75 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $388.21 million, versus expectations of $387.36 million.

 

Equities Trading UP

500.com Limited WBAI shares shot up 92% to $5.16 after the company announced a $23 million investment from Good Luck Information Technology. The company appointed Mr. Xianfeng Yang as CEO and Mr. Bo Yu as COO.

Shares of EyeGate Pharmaceuticals, Inc. EYEG got a boost, shooting 77% to $6.33 after the company announced the acquisition of privately-held Panoptes Pharma, which is developing a small molecule for the treatment of severe eye diseases with a high unmet medical need.

Nuverra Environmental Solutions, Inc. NES shares were also up, gaining 67% to $3.91 after the company’s board approved the adoption of a limited duration stockholder rights plan.

Equities Trading DOWN

MingZhu Logistics Holdings Limited YGMZ shares tumbled 22% to $8.82 after dipping over 35% on Friday.

Shares of Wunong Net Technology Company Limited WNW were down 18% to $63.82 after declining 36% on Friday. The company, last week, priced its IPO at $5 per share.

uniQure N.V.. QURE was down, falling 17% to $38.06 after the gene therapy company announced a setback to its clinical study. uniQure said the FDA has placed its Hemophilia B gene therapy program, including the late-stage HOPE-B study, on clinical hold.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 5.1% to $46.62, while gold traded down 0.5% to $1,879.00.

Silver traded up 0.1% Monday to $26.065 while copper fell 1.8% to $3.5675.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today following new virus strains in the U.K. and deadlock in Brexit trade talks. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 2.9%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 3.6%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 3.1%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 declined 3.3%, French CAC 40 declined 3.1% and London’s FTSE 100 fell 2.6%.

Economics

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index declined to 0.27 in November versus a revised reading of 1.01 in October.

The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.

The Treasury will auction 20-year bonds at 1:00 p.m. ET.