Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Higher; ISM Manufacturing Index Drops To 58.7

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.74% to 36,857.55 while the NASDAQ fell 0.14% to 15,811.30. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.40% to 4,815.75.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 57,131,180 cases with around 848,880 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 34,960,260 cases and 482,010 deaths, while Brazil reported over 22,305,070 COVID-19 cases with 619,240 deaths. In total, there were at least 293,085,990 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 5,467,810 deaths.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed 2.6% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included NexTier Oilfield Solutions Inc. NEX, up 20% and Liberty Oilfield Services Inc. LBRT up 8%.

In trading on Tuesday, health care shares fell 1.2%.

Top Headline

The ISM manufacturing PMI dropped to 58.7 in December from 61.1 in the previous month. However, analysts were expecting a reading of 60.

 

Equities Trading UP

Immix Biopharma, Inc. IMMX shares shot up 24% to $7.16 on continued momentum after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted Rare Pediatric Disease designation for IMX-110 for the treatment of rhabdomyosarcoma, a life-threatening form of pediatric cancer in children.

Shares of NexTier Oilfield Solutions Inc. NEX got a boost, shooting 20% to $4.6583 after the company issued an operational update and guidance for the fourth quarter. The company said it expects Q4 revenue of $500-$510 million, reflecting a surge of more than 25% from Q3 2021.

iSpecimen Inc. ISPC shares were also up, gaining 14% to $9.20 after Craig-Hallum initiated coverage on the stock with a Buy rating and $20 price target.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

AVROBIO, Inc. AVRO shares tumbled 36% to $2.6050 fter the company reported it is shifting its portfolio priorities to focus on other clinical-stage programs and extending its cash runway into the first quarter of 2024. It is deprioritizing its Fabry disease program.

Shares of Heliogen, Inc. HLGN were down 26% to $10.05 after declining around 13% on Monday.

Gritstone bio, Inc. GRTS was down, falling 21% to $9.64 as the company shared data from the first cohort (10 µg dose) of the Phase 1 booster trial of self-amplifying mRNA (samRNA) COVID-19 vaccine.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.8% to $76.68, while gold traded up 0.1% to $1,802.40.

Silver traded down 0.1% Tuesday to $22.80 while copper fell 0.8% to $4.3880.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 0.9%, London’s FTSE 100 jumped 1.3%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index gained 06%. The German DAX gained 0.7%, French CAC 40 surged 1.4% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.8%.

The IHS Markit/CIPS UK manufacturing PMI increased to 57.9 in December from a preliminary reading of 57.6, while consumer credit rose by GBP 1.2 billion in November. The annual inflation rate in France came in steady at 2.8% year-over-year in December.

The unemployment rate in Germany fell to 5.2% in December from 5.3% in the prior month, while retail sales in Germany rose 0.6% in November. The number of people registered as unemployed in Spain fell 76,782 from a month ago to 3.106 million in December.

Economics

The ISM manufacturing PMI dropped to 58.7 in December from 61.1 in the previous month. However, analysts were expecting a reading of 60.

US job openings dropped to 10.6 million in November, from 11.1 million in the earlier month, the Labor Department said.

Check out the full economic calendar here