Mid-Day Market Update: Dow Falls 1.5%; NanoViricides Shares Spike Higher

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded down 1.52% to 28,552.39 while the NASDAQ fell 1.92% to 9,136.25. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.49% to 3,246.21.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer staples shares slipped by just 0.2% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Bridgford Foods Corporation BRID, up 8%, and Beyond Meat, Inc. BYND, up 7%.

In trading on Monday, energy shares fell 2.3%.

Top Headline

D. R. Horton Inc DHI reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter.

D.R. Horton reported adjusted first-quarterly earnings of $1.07 per share on Monday, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of 92 cents. The company reported quarterly sales of $4.021 billion, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $3.77 billion.

The company raised fiscal year 2020 sales guidance from $18.5-$19 billion to $18.5-19.1 billion.

Equities Trading UP

NanoViricides, Inc. NNVC shares shot up 75% to $14.76. Shares of several vaccine companies are trading higher as the Wuhan coronavirus continues to spread, boosting the demand outlook for a potential vaccine. Some companies have said they are initiating development of a coronavirus vaccine.

Shares of Cleveland BioLabs, Inc. CBLI got a boost, shooting up 200% to $3.95. The stock has attracted investor interest amid the coronavirus outbreak due to the company's SA-702 vaccine adjuvant.

Lianluo Smart Limited LLIT shares were also up, gaining 83% to $1.99 after climbing 55.40% on Friday.

Equities Trading DOWN

NeuroMetrix, Inc. NURO shares tumbled 27% to $3.4588 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q4 sales results.

Shares of SAExploration Holdings, Inc. SAEX were down 14% to $2.6098 after the rising 33% on Friday.

Platinum Group Metals Ltd. PLG was down, falling 14% to $1.91.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 1.6% to $53.31, while gold traded up 0.6% to $1,580.50.

Silver traded up 0.4% Monday to $18.19, while copper fell 2.9% to $2.6055.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 2.13%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.78%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 2.1% Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 2.42%, and the French CAC 40 fell 2.54% while UK shares fell 2.37%.

Economics

U.S. new home sales fell 0.4% to an annual rate of 694,000 for December.

The Dallas Fed manufacturing index increased to a reading of -0.2 in January, compared to a reading of -3.2 in the prior month.

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