Mid-Day Market Update: Crude Oil Plunges 45%; Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals Shares Jump

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.71% to 24,070.23 while the NASDAQ rose 0.35% to 8,680.06. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.28% to 2,866.43.

The U.S. is the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic with the highest number of cases and deaths around the world. U.S. reported a total of 759,780 coronavirus cases with around 40,680 deaths. Spain confirmed a total of over 200,210 coronavirus cases with 20,850 deaths, while Italy reported a total of at least 178,970 confirmed cases and 23,660 deaths. In total, there were at least 2,416,130 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 165,930 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer discretionary shares rose 0.4% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Fiverr International Ltd. FVRR, up 15%, and Overstock.com, Inc. OSTK, up 12%.

In trading on Monday, real estate shares tumbled 1.8%.

Top Headline

Halliburton Company HAL reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter.

Halliburton posted quarterly earnings of $0.31 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $0.24 per share. Its sales came in at $5.04 billion, versus expectations of $5.01 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. CYCC shares shot up 78% to $11.38 after the company announced a collaboration agreement with the University of Edinburgh to study its CDK Inhibitors to reduce runaway inflammation in coronavirus disease.

Shares of NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. NBY got a boost, shooting 91% to $1.45 after the company signed an agreement to distribute COVID-19 antibody rapid point-of-care test to US healthcare professionals.

Immuron Limited IMRN shares were also up, gaining 32% to $3.0938 after the company disclosed a 95% year-over-year rise in its North American Travelan sales.

Equities Trading DOWN

Akazoo S.A. SONG shares tumbled 21% to $2.1250.

Shares of Invesco Mortgage Capital Inc. IVR were down 19% to $3.00 after rising 15% on Friday.

Chaparral Energy, Inc. CHAP was down, falling 9% to $0.2501 after the company's CFO resigned to pursue other opportunities.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 45% to $10.03, while gold traded up 0.6% to $1,709.40.

Silver traded up 1.9% Monday to $15.585, while copper fell 1% to $2.3215.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.44%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.97%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.16%. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.21%, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.37% while UK shares rose 0.19%.

Economics

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index declined to -4.19 in March, versus a revised reading of 0.06 in February.