Mid-Day Market Update: Crude Oil Down Over 5%; Checkmate Pharmaceuticals Shares Spike Higher

U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining more than 200 points on Tuesday.

The Dow traded up 1.13% to 34,800.08 while the NASDAQ rose 1.82% to 13,575.33. The S&P also rose, gaining, 1.27% to 4,447.64.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer discretionary shares jumped by 2.5% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Sono Group N.V. SEV, up 47% and Hour Loop, Inc. HOUR up 10%.

In trading on Tuesday, energy shares fell 1.2%.

Top Headline

Johnson & Johnson JNJ reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter, but suspended sales forecast for COVID-19 vaccine.

Johnson & Johnson reported Q1 FY22 adjusted earnings of $2.67 per share, up 3.1% Y/Y and ahead of the consensus of $2.61. Net sales increased 5% Y/Y (7.9% on an operational basis) to $23.43 billion, missing the consensus of $23.67 billion.

Johnson & Johnson expects an FY22 adjusted profit forecast of $10.15 - $10.35 per share, lower than the prior forecast of $10.40 - $10.60. The consensus estimate is $10.51. The Company expects sales of $97.3 billion – $98.3 billion, versus the consensus of $$99.31 billion. JNJ has suspended its sales forecast for the COVID-19 vaccine due to global supply surplus and demand uncertainty.

Equities Trading UP

Checkmate Pharmaceuticals, Inc. CMPI shares shot up 330% to $10.44 after Regeneron announced a deal to acquire the company for $10.50 per share in cash.

Shares of Super Micro Computer, Inc. SMCI got a boost, shooting 21% to $44.19 after the company raised its Q3 guidance above analyst estimates.

ToughBuilt Industries, Inc. TBLT shares were also up, gaining 64% to $0.2406 as the company posted a narrower FY21 loss.

Equities Trading DOWN

System1, Inc. SST shares tumbled 34% to $13.51 as the company disclosed a previously-issued (from Feb. 9, 2022) shelf registration statement went into effect.

Shares of Enservco Corporation ENSV were down 22% to $2.8484. Enservco shares gained 38% on Monday after the company announced the delay of its 2021 10-K filing to adjust for its utilization of certain deferred tax liabilities in 2021.

DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc. XRAY was down, falling 13% to $42.61 after the company issued Q1 2022 adjusted EPS guidance below estimates and announced the appointment of John Groetelaars as Interim Chief Executive Officer.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 5.3% to $102.49, while gold traded down 1.6% to $1,954.10.

Silver traded down 3.4% Tuesday to $25.25 while copper fell 2% to $4.7050.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.66%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.06%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.01%. The German DAX slipped 0.01%, French CAC 40 fell 0.63% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dipped 0.97%.

Economics

Housing starts in the US rose 0.3% to an annualized rate of 1.793 million in March, while building permits rose 0.4% to an annual rate of 1.873 million.

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari will speak at 8:00 p.m. ET.

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COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 82,377,150 cases with around 1,015,790 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 43,045,520 cases and 521,990 deaths, while Brazil reported over 30,261,080 COVID-19 cases with 662,070 deaths. In total, there were at least 505,279,780 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,225,190 deaths.