Mid-Day Market Update: Crude Oil Down 2.5%; IGM Biosciences Shares Jump

U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Dow jumping over 250 points on Tuesday.

The Dow traded up 0.75% to 35,217.99 while the NASDAQ rose 1.21% to 14,529.01. The S&P also rose, gaining, 0.77% to 4,610.6.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares jumped by 1.4% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ:VEON), up 16% and DouYu International Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:DOYU) up 10%.

In trading on Monday, energy shares fell 1.8%.

Top Headline

McCormick & Co Inc (NYSE:MKC) reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter.

McCormick reported first-quarter FY22 sales growth of 2.7% year-on-year, to $1.52 billion, beating the consensus of $1.47 billion. Adjusted EPS of $0.63 beat the consensus of $0.62.

McCormick reiterated its FY22 sales, operating income, and EPS outlook. The company sees FY22 sales growth of 3% - 5% Y/Y. It expects FY22 Adjusted EPS of $3.17 - $3.22, against the consensus of $3.19.

 

Equities Trading UP

IGM Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:IGMS) shares shot up 128% to $34.18. Sanofi SA (NASDAQ:SNY) and IGM Biosciences signed an exclusive worldwide collaboration agreement for IgM antibodies agonists against three oncology targets and three immunology/inflammation targets.

Shares of Randolph Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNDB) got a boost, shooting 26% to $26.49 after Hometown Financial Group announced plans to acquire Randolph Bancorp for $27 per share in cash.

The Lovesac Company (NASDAQ:LOVE) shares were also up, gaining 22% to $57.42. Lovesac reported fourth-quarter FY22 sales growth of 51.3% year-on-year, to $196.2 million, beating the consensus of $174.33 million.

Equities Trading DOWN

NeoGenomics, Inc. (NASDAQ:NEO) shares tumbled 32% to $12.01 after the company announced it expects Q1 sales to be below its previously issued guidance range and withdrew its FY22 guidance. The company also announced Mark Mallon has agreed to step down as CEO.

Shares of Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAH) were down 28% to $3.8650 after the company said FY21 EPS results were down from last year. The company also issued FY22 sales guidance below analyst estimates. B of A Securities downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral and lowered the price target from $10 to $5.5.

Progenity, Inc. (NASDAQ:PROG) was down, falling 24% to $1.2188 after the company reported Q4 earnings results.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 2.5% to $103.29, while gold traded down 1.6% to $1,908.90.

Silver traded down 2.2% Tuesday to $24.635 while copper fell 0.1% to $4.7220.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 1.48%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.72%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 2.94%. The German DAX gained 2.46%, French CAC 40 climbed 2.77% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 2.08%.

Consumer credit in the UK rose by GBP 1.9 billion in February. Retail sales in Spain rose 0.9% year-over-year in February, while consumer confidence in France declined to 91 in March from 97 in February. Import prices in Germany rose 26.3% year-over-year in February, while GfK Consumer Climate Indicator declined to -15.5 heading to April.

 

Economics

 

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index increased 19.1% in January.

The FHFA house price index rose 1.6% from a month ago in January.

The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index rose to 107.20 in March, versus a revised level of 105.70.

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is set to speak at 9:30 p.m. ET.

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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 81,658,970 cases with around 1,004,240 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 43,021,980 cases and 521,090 deaths, while Brazil reported over 29,852,340 COVID-19 cases with 659,010 deaths. In total, there were at least 483,970,220 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,153,200 deaths.