Mid-Day Market Update: Nasdaq Tumbles Over 2%; Pandion Therapeutics Shares Spike Higher

Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.90% to 31,673.19 while the NASDAQ fell 2.11% to 13,311.64. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.35% to 3,872.53.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 28,336,200 cases with around 505,890 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 11,046,910 confirmed cases and 156,700 deaths, while Brazil reported over 10,324,460 COVID-19 cases with 249,950 deaths. In total, there were at least 112,646,450 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 2,499,200 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.


Leading and Lagging Sectors


Consumer staples shares slipped by just 0.3% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included 111, Inc. YI, up 7%, and Farmer Bros. Co. FARM, up 7%.


In trading on Thursday, information technology shares dipped by 2.6%.


Top Headline

Best Buy Co., Inc. BBY reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales missed views.

Best Buy reported quarterly earnings of $3.48 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $3.45 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $16.94 billion, versus expectations of $17.23 billion.

Best Buy raised its quarterly dividend from $0.55 to $0.70 per share.

 


Equities Trading UP


Pandion Therapeutics, Inc. PAND shares shot up 132% to $59.55 after the company announced it will be acquired by Merck for $60 per share in cash.


Shares of Dynatronics Corporation DYNT got a boost, shooting 54% to $1.965 after the company announced the extension of a key distribution agreement.


Koss Corporation KOSS shares were also up, gaining 48% to $27.27 on continued momentum after jumping around 55% on Wednesday.

Check out these big movers of the day


Equities Trading DOWN

Ping Identity Holding Corp. PING shares tumbled 23% to $25.06 after the company reported downbeat Q4 sales and issued weak sales guidance. Credit Suisse downgraded Ping Identity from Outperform to Neutral and lowered the price target from $34 to $30.

Shares of Warrior Met Coal, Inc. HCC were down 18% to $20.92 after the company posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss.

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. USPH was down, falling 19% to $114.56 after reporting Q4 results.


Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 0.6% to $63.59, while gold traded down 1.2% to $1,775.60.


Silver traded down 0.6% Thursday to $27.695 while copper fell 0.5% to $4.2815.


Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.36%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.58% and the German DAX 30 dropped 0.69%. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 fell 0.24%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.11% and Italy’s FTSE MIB fell 0.15%.

Eurozone consumer confidence indicator rose to -14.8 in February from previous month’s reading of -15.5, while industry confidence indicator rose to -3.3 in February. The economic sentiment indicator rose to 93.4 in February from 91.5 in the prior month.

French consumer confidence indicator declined to 91 in February from 92 in January, while German consumer climate indicator rose to -12.9 heading into March. Italy’s consumer confidence index rose to 101.4 in February from 100.7 in the earlier month. Producer prices in Spain increased 0.9% year-over-year in January.

 

Economics

US durable goods orders rose 3.4% in January .


The US economy expanded by an annualized rate of 4.1% in the fourth quarter, higher than the initial estimate of a 4% growth.


US initial jobless claims declined by 111,000 to 730,000 in the week ended February 20.


The pending home sales index climbed 13% year-over-year in January.


US natural-gas supplies fell 338 billion cubic feet last week, the Energy Information Administration said.


The Kansas City Fed's Manufacturing Production Index increased 4 points to 26 in February.


The Treasury will auction 7-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.


Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams will speak at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Check out the full economic calendar here

 

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Posted In: EarningsNewsPenny StocksEurozoneCommoditiesSmall CapGlobalIntraday UpdateMarketsMid-Day Market Update
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