Nasdaq Jumps 150 Points; Gold Rises Over 2%

U.S. stocks traded extended gains midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining around 150 points on Tuesday.

The Dow traded up 1.50% to 33,318.55 while the NASDAQ rose 1.46% to 10,718.77. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 1.3% to 3,856.88.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Materials shares gained 2.6% on Tuesday. Leading the sector was strength from McEwen Mining Inc. MUX and Equinox Gold Corp. EQX.

In trading on Tuesday, energy shares fell by 0.3%.

Top Headline

The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index dropped to a three-month low level of 91.3 in October from 92.1 in the previous month.

Equities Trading UP

• TaskUs, Inc. TASK shares shot up 31% to $21.00 after the company reported better-than-expected Q3 results. The company also issued Q4 and FY22 sales guidance above analyst estimates.
• Shares of SkyWater Technology, Inc. SKYT got a boost, shooting 33% to $11.48 after the company reported better-than-expected Q3 EPS and sales results.
• GrowGeneration Corp. GRWG shares were also up, gaining 37% to $4.52 after the company reported better-than-expected Q3 sales.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Bioventus Inc. BVS shares tumbled 50% to $3.54 after the company reported downbeat Q3 results and lowered FY22 guidance.
• Shares of R1 RCM Inc. RCM were down 46% to $7.98 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q3 EPS and sales results and cut FY22 revenue guidance below estimates.
• Unisys Corporation UIS was down, falling 46% to $4.87 following downbeat quarterly sales.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.9% to $90.97 while gold traded up 2.3% at $1,718.80.

Silver traded up 3.4% to $21.625 on Tuesday while copper rose 2.4% to $3.6890.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.72%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.01% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.44%. The German DAX gained 1.02%, French CAC 40 rose 0.34% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index jumped 0.90%.

Eurozone retail sales increased by 0.4% from a month ago in September, while retail sales in Italy rose 0.5% from a month earlier in September. French current account deficit widened to EUR 7.3 billion in September versus a revised EUR 5.9 billion in the prior month. Payroll employment in the French private sector increased by 0.4% to 20.81 million in the third quarter.

Retail sales in the UK rose by 1.2% from a year ago in October, compared to September’s 1.8% growth.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Tuesday, with the Japan’s Nikkei climbing 1.25% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropping 0.23%. China’s Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.43%.

The index of leading economic indicators in Japan fell to 97.4 in September versus a final reading of 101.1 in the prior month, while index of coincident economic indicators fell to 101.1 from a final 101.8. The NAB business confidence index in Australia fell 5 points to 0 for the month of October, while Westpac-Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment fell 6.9% to 78 in November. Average cash earnings in Japan climbed by 2.1% year-over-year in September, while household spending in the country rose by 2.3% from the earlier year in September.

Economics

The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index dropped to a three-month low level of 91.3 in October from 92.1 in the previous month.

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COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 99,681,440 cases with around 1,098,380 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,662,140 cases and 530,510 deaths, while France reported over 36,971,720 COVID-19 cases with 157,420 deaths. In total, there were at least 638,189,250 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,607,260 deaths.