Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mixed; Jabil Beats Q2 Views

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.17% to 32,895.91 while the NASDAQ rose 0.80% to 13,567.73. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.23% to 3,978.07.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 29,496,140 cases with around 535,650 deaths. Brazil reported over 11,519,600 COVID-19 cases with 279,280 deaths, while India confirmed a total of at least 11,409,830 cases and 158,850 deaths. In total, there were at least 120,338,070 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 2,662,990 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares rose 1.4% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Cloopen Group Holding Limited RAAS, up 11%, and GTT Communications, Inc. GTT, up 6%.

In trading on Monday, energy shares fell 2.8%.

Top Headline

Jabil Inc. JBL reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter and raised FY21 guidance.

Jabil posted quarterly earnings of $1.27 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $0.95 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $6.83 billion, exceeding expectations of $6.57 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Bioceres Crop Solutions Corp. BIOX shares shot up 66% to $16.55 after the company reported the acquisition of a 6% ownership interest in Moolec Science Ltd..

Shares of Anchiano Therapeutics Ltd. ANCN got a boost, shooting 67% to $7.51. Anchiano Therapeutics said its shareholders voted to approve a merger with Chemomab and the issuance of Anchiano shares in connection with the pending merger. Shareholders also approved a reverse split of Anchiano's common shares.

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. CANF shares were also up, gaining 57% to $3.1986 after the company announced it has signed a $42.7 million out-licensing deal with Ewopharma. Can-Fite will receive $2.25 million upfront and an additional $40.45 million upon achievement of milestones.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Oriental Culture Holding LTD OCG shares tumbled 36% to $5.98 given recent increased interest in non-fungible tokens. The company operates an online platform for artwork and has potentially been seen as a play on non-fungible tokens.

Shares of Takung Art Co., Ltd. TKAT were down 32% to $5.74 given recent increased interest in non-fungible tokens. The company operates an electronic artwork trading platform and has potentially been seen as a play on non-fungible tokens.

Solid Biosciences Inc. SLDB was down, falling 30% to $6.64 after the company reported interim functional, biomarker data, and patient-reported outcome measures from its ongoing IGNITE Phase 1/2 trial of its lead gene therapy candidate, SGT-001 in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD)..

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 2.1% to $64.05, while gold traded up 0.3% to $1,734.10.

Silver traded down 1% Tuesday to $26.02 while copper fell 1.6% to $4.0745.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.7%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.1% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.8%. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 rose 0.2%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.5% and Italy’s FTSE MIB rose 0.4%.

The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for the Eurozone increased 4.4 points to 74 in March, while the German ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment increased by 5.4 points to 76.6 in March. French consumer price inflation rate was revised higher to 0.6% year-over-year in February.

Economics

The Federal Open Market Committee will start its two-day policy meeting today.

Retail sales dropped 3% in February versus a revised 7.6% surge in January.

Import prices rose 1.3% in February, while prices for US exports rose 1.6%.

Industrial production declined 2.2% in February, following a revised 1.1% rise in the previous month.

US business inventories rose 0.3% for January.

The NAHB housing market index dropped 2 points to 82 in March.

The Treasury is set to auction 20-year bonds at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Check out the full economic calendar here