Mid-Day Market Update: Crude Oil Dips 8%; Plantronics Shares Spike Higher

U.S. stocks traded mixed midway through trading, with the Dow dropping 175 points on Monday.

The Dow traded down 0.50% to 34,686.01 while the NASDAQ rose 0.44% to 14,231.69. The S&P also fell, dropping, 0.01% to 4,542.55.

Also check this: Alphabet And 3 Other Stocks Sold By Insiders

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer discretionary shares jumped by 2% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Kaixin Auto Holdings KXIN, up 31% and Sonos, Inc.. SONO up 13%.

In trading on Monday, energy shares fell 2.5%.

Top Headline

Science Applications International Corp SAIC reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.

SAIC reported fourth-quarter FY22 revenue growth of 4% year-over-year to $1.78 billion and +1.4% organic, beating the consensus of $1.77 billion. Adjusted EPS of $1.50 beat the consensus of $1.23.

SAIC sees revenue of $7.35 billion-$7.55 billion, lower than the consensus of $7.61 billion.
It expects an Adjusted EPS of $6.80 -$7.10 versus the consensus of $6.84.

Equities Trading UP

Plantronics, Inc. POLY shares shot up 50% to $39.34 after HP announced it will acquire the company.

Shares of Hycroft Mining Holding Corporation HYMC got a boost, shooting 51% to $1.94 following reports regarding potential future investments from AMC CEO, Adam Aron.

B.O.S. Better Online Solutions Ltd. BOSC shares were also up, gaining 21% to $3.1562 as the company said its supply chain division has received an order in the amount of $2.4 million for delivery this year.

Equities Trading DOWN

Amylyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. AMLX shares tumbled 52% to $11.92 following circulation of FDA briefing docs ahead of FDA meeting on the company’s peripheral, central nervous system drugs panel.

Shares of NeuroOne Medical Technologies Corporation NMTC were down 47% to $1.19. Craig-Hallum downgraded NeuroOne Medical Tech from Buy to Hold.

Clever Leaves Holdings Inc. CLVR was down, falling 35% to $2.5050. Cowen & Co. maintained Clever Leaves Holdings with a Market Perform and lowered the price target from $6 to $4.

Also check out: Executives Buy More Than $12M Of 3 Stocks

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 8% to $104.76, while gold traded down 0.9% to $1,937.20.

Silver traded down 1.6% Monday to $25.205 while copper rose 0.2% to $4.71.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.36%, London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.11%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.72%. The German DAX gained 1.24%, French CAC 40 climbed 0.98% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 1.07%.

Economics

The US goods trade deficit shrank to $106.59 billion in February from a revised all-time high of $107.57 billion in the prior month.

Wholesale inventories increased 2.1% month-over-month to $814.8 billion in February.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' general business activity index for manufacturing in Texas fell to 8.7 in March from 14 in February.

The Treasury will auction 3-month bills and 5-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Check out this: Executives Sell About $30M Of 3 Stocks

COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 81,621,880 cases with around 1,003,460 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 43,020,720 cases and 521,060 deaths, while Brazil reported over 29,842,410 COVID-19 cases with 658,920 deaths. In total, there were at least 482,187,020 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,148,510 deaths.