Mid-Day Market Update: Gold Slides Further, GW Pharma Reports Topline Growth

Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded higher by 0.14% to 31,502.73, while the NASDAQ fell 0.47% to 14,029.30 and the S&P slid 0.08% to 3,931.52.

The seven-day average of new covid-19 cases declined by 23% from a week earlier to around 85,200, with daily deaths related to the infection holding steady at about 3,000, according to Johns Hopkins University. Meanwhile, Moderna Inc MRNA said it expects to deliver 100 million vaccine shots to the US in six weeks.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed 2.02% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Torchlight Energy Resources, Inc. , up 53.72%, and Tidewater Inc. TDW, up 9.70%.

In trading on Tuesday, real estate shares fell 1.34%.

Top Headline
GW Pharmaceuticals PLC GWPH reported total net sales of Epidiolex at $144.1 million in the last three months of fiscal 2020 and $510.5 million for the full year.

GW Pharmaceuticals also reported total revenue of $148.2 million for the fourth quarter, versus $109.1 million in the year-ago quarter. For the full year, total revenue came in at $527.2 million, representing 69% year-over-year growth.

Equities Trading UP

• Socket Mobile, Inc. SCKT shares shot up 191.67% to $9.45, driven by heavy volumes after the company unveiled its DuraSled scanner for iPhone 12s.
• ALJ Regional Holdings, Inc. ALJJ was up, rising 104.51% to $2.72, after the company announced its first quarter results, ended December 31, 2020.
• Urban Tea, Inc. MYT shares gained 73.26% to $5.96.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Shares of bluebird bio, Inc. BLUE fell by 28.68% to $32.635. National securities litigation firm Block & Leviton LLP announced that a lawsuit has been filed against bluebird bio and some of its executives for violation of the federal securities laws.
• Neptune Wellness Solutions Inc. NEPT was down, falling 28.57% to $2, after the company announced its fiscal third quarter earnings and revenue below expectations.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.47% to $59.75, while gold traded down 1.53% to $1,795.30.

Silver traded down 0.19% Tuesday to $27.27, while copper rose 1.06% to $3.82.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.06%, the German DAX was down 0.32%, Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.69%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.61% and UK shares declined 0.11%. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 rose 0.01%.

Economics

The Overall Net Capital Flows data for December will be released at 4:00 p.m. ET. The US recorded a capital and financial account surplus of $214.1 billion November 2020, following an upwardly revised $11.1 billion outflow in October.