Nasdaq Down Over 50 Points; US Goods Trade Deficit Widens Slightly

U.S. stocks traded mixed this morning, with the Nasdaq Composite dropping around 50 points on Tuesday.

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.01% to 32,436.22 while the NASDAQ fell 0.52% to 11,707.41. The S&P 500, also fell, dropping, 0.21% to 3,969.06.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

• Energy shares jumped by 0.7% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Battalion Oil Corporation BATL, up 5%, and Ur-Energy Inc.. URG, up 3%.
• In trading on Tuesday, communication services shares fell by 1.5%.

Top Headline

The US trade deficit in goods increased to $91.63 billion in February versus a revised $91.09 billion in the prior month.

Equities Trading UP

• Oscar Health, Inc. OSCR shares shot up 53% to $5.49 after the company announced the appointment of healthcare veteran Mark Bertolini as CEO effective April 3, 2023.
• Shares of Biomea Fusion, Inc. BMEA got a boost, shooting 42% to $21.95 after the company announced data from the initial cohorts of the ongoing Phase II study of BMF-219 in patients with type 2 diabetes; 100mg cohort 3 demonstrated an 89% response rate and 1% median reduction in HbA1c at day 28.
• Viking Therapeutics, Inc. VKTX shares were also up, gaining 42% to $12.92 after the company reported results from its Phase 1 trial of VK2735 for the potential treatment of various metabolic disorders.

Equities Trading DOWN

• OncoSec Medical Incorporated ONCS shares dropped 31% to $1.83.
• Shares of WiSA Technologies, Inc. WISA were down 32% to $2.4587 after jumping around 89% on Monday.
• Harmony Biosciences Holdings, Inc. HRMY was down, falling 21% to $32.67 after Scorpion Capital issued a short report on the company.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.1% to $72.87 while gold traded up 0.5% at $1,962.90.

Silver traded up 0.2% to $23.19 on Tuesday while copper fell 0.2% to $4.0715.

Euro zone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.2%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.1% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index gained 0.2%. The German DAX slipped 0.1%, French CAC 40 fell 0.1% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.1%.

Consumer confidence in Italy climbed to 105.1 in March, recording the highest level since February 2022, while manufacturing confidence climbed to 104.2 in March. The manufacturing climate indicator in France declined to 104 in March from 105 a month ago.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Tuesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 0.15%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbing 1.11% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index declining 0.19%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex slipped 0.1%.

Retail sales in Australia increased by 0.2% from a month ago to AUD 35.14 billion in February, versus a revised 1.8% rise in the prior month.

Economics

• The US trade deficit in goods increased to $91.63 billion in February versus a revised $91.09 billion in the prior month.
• Wholesale inventories in the US rose 0.2% month-over-month in February versus a revised 0.5% decline in the previous month.
• The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index increased 2.5% year-over-year in January, recording the smallest rise since November 2019.
• The FHFA house price index rose 0.2% from a month ago in January.

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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 106,109,140 cases with around 1,153,810 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,707,520 cases and 530,840 deaths, while France reported over 39,758,770 COVID-19 cases with 165,530 deaths. In total, there were at least 683,403,070 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,827,620 deaths.