Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; P&G Profit Tops Views

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.43% to 33,931.13 while the NASDAQ fell 0.22% to 13,883.52. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.27% to 4,151.87.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 31,738,700 cases with around 567,720 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 15,320,970 cases and 180,530 deaths, while Brazil reported over 13,973,690 COVID-19 cases with 374,680 deaths. In total, there were at least 142,142,960 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 3,031,230 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Real estate shares rose 1% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Iron Mountain Incorporated IRM, up 3%, and Extra Space Storage Inc. EXR, up 3%.

In trading on Tuesday, energy shares fell 2.2%.

Top Headline

The Procter & Gamble Company PG reported stronger-than-expected results for its third quarter.

P&G reported quarterly earnings of $1.26 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.19 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $18.10 billion, versus expectations of $17.92 billion.

P&G maintained its FY21 core EPS guidance of $5.12, versus analysts’ estimates of $5.67.

Equities Trading UP

MyMD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. MYMD shares shot up 22% to $5.37 after dropping more than 10% on Monday.

Shares of Obalon Therapeutics, Inc. OBLN got a boost, shooting 13% to $2.80.

Kansas City Southern KSU shares were also up, gaining 16% to $296.27 after Canadian National confirmed its proposal to acquire the company for $325 per share.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc. SNDX shares tumbled 26% to $14.36. Syndax announced updated positive data from the Phase 1 dose-escalation portion of the Phase 1/2 study of SNDX-5613 in patients with genetically-defined leukemia.

Shares of China Green Agriculture, Inc. CGA were down 18% to $13.91 after jumping over 28% on Monday.

Futu Holdings Limited FUTU was down, falling 16% to $149.06 after the company announced a 9.5 million ADS offering.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.5% to $63.72, while gold traded up 0.1% to $1,772.60.

Silver traded up 0.4% Tuesday to $25.95 while copper rose 0.4% to $4.2535.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 1.1%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.7% and the German DAX 30 dropped 0.7%. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 fell 1.3% London’s FTSE 100 fell 1% and Italy’s FTSE MIB fell 1.4%.

Germany's producer prices rose 3.7% year-over-year in March. The UK’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.9% in the three months to February.

Economics

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index rose 13.4% year-over-year during the first two weeks of April.

The Treasury is set to auction 52-week bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Check out the full economic calendar here