Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; FedEx Beats Q3 Estimates

Following the market opening Friday, the Dow traded down 0.88% to 32,571.96 while the NASDAQ fell 0.50% to 13,051.01. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.67% to 3,889.15.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 29,667,750 cases with around 539,690 deaths. Brazil reported over 11,780,820 COVID-19 cases with 287,490 deaths, while India confirmed a total of at least 11,514,330 cases and 159,370 deaths. In total, there were at least 121,882,440 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 2,692,800 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer staples shares rose 0.2% on Friday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included 111, Inc. YI, up 2%, and Companhia Brasileira de Distribuição CBD, up 5%.

In trading on Friday, financial shares fell 1.8%.

Top Headline

FedEx Corporation FDX reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter and also issued strong earnings forecast for the year.

FedEx reported quarterly earnings of $3.47 per share, missing analysts’ estimates of $3.24 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $21.50 billion, versus expectations of $19.96 billion.

FedEx said it expects FY21 EPS of $17.60-$18.20, versus analysts’ estimates of $17.40.

 

Equities Trading UP

Clovis Oncology, Inc. CLVS shares shot up 54% to $8.20 after the company announced its Rubraca significantly improves PFS versus chemotherapy in patients with later-line ovarian cancer associated with a BRCA mutation.

Shares of Atlantic American Corporation AAME got a boost, shooting 36% to $6.16 after climbing over 6% on Thursday.

ZK International Group Co., Ltd. ZKIN shares were also up, gaining 36% to $11.91. ZK International recently announced its subsidiary, xSigma, entered into the NFT market with the launch of its "NFT" platform on Ethereum and Polkadot blockchains.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. IDRA shares tumbled 64% to $1.85 after the biopharmaceutical company said its lead drug candidate Tilsotolimod failed to meet the primary endpoint in a Phase 3 trial for anti-PD-1 refractory advanced melanoma. JP Morgan and HC Wainwright & Co. downgraded the stock to Neutral.

Shares of NuZee, Inc. NUZE were down 23% to $3.93 after the company priced its underwritten public offering of units at $4.50 per unit.

BSQUARE Corporation BSQR was down, falling 20% to $4.32 after reporting Q4 results.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.3% to $60.75, while gold traded up 0.2% to $1,736.40.

Silver traded down 0.8% Friday to $26.15 while copper fell 1% to $4.0655.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.3%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.7% and the German DAX 30 dropped 0.4%. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 fell 0.4%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.6% and Italy’s FTSE MIB slipped 0.a%.

Germany's producer prices rose 1.9% year-over-year in February, while construction output in Italy slipped 1.5% year-over-year in January.

 

Economics

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Check out the full economic calendar here