Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Rises 600 Points; Crude Oil Up Over 10%

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 2.52% to 24,451 while the NASDAQ rose 2.82% to 8,174.78. The S&P also rose, gaining 2.81% to 2,823.87. South Korea confirmed 131 new coronavirus cases, while mainland China reported 19 new confirmed cases. Italy extended quarantine restrictions to the whole country after reporting a total of at least 9,100 cases and 463 deaths. In total, there are at least 117,000 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 4,200 deaths.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares jumped 2.8% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Cypress Semiconductor Corporation CY, up 48%, and Avid Technology, Inc. AVID, up 18%.

In trading on Tuesday, utilities shares fell 2.6%.

Top Headline

Dicks Sporting Goods Inc DKS reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Tuesday.

Dick's Sporting posted Q4 adjusted earnings of $1.32 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.22 per share. Its sales came in at $2.609 billion, versus the consensus estimate of $2.57 billion.

DICK'S said it expects FY20 adjusted earnings of $3.69 per shares, versus analysts’ estimates of $3.60 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Cypress Semiconductor Corporation CY shares shot up 48% to $22.66 after the company received clearance from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to be acquired by Infineon. CFRA upgraded Cypress Semiconductor from Hold to Buy.

Shares of Novan, Inc. NOVN got a boost, shooting 48% to $0.75 after surging over 35% on Monday. Novan is currently planning trials for nitric oxide inhalation therapy for coronavirus.

Ovintiv Inc. OVV shares were also up, gaining 26% to $2.80 after dropping 72% on Monday. Ovintiv said it is reducing near-term capital spending to ensure company maintains free cash neutrality in current market conditions.

Equities Trading DOWN

Spherix Incorporated SPEX shares tumbled 35% to $2.08 after surging over 96% on Monday.

Shares of Stitch Fix, Inc. SFIX were down 28% to $15.18. Stitch Fix reported upbeat earnings for its second quarter, while sales missed views. The company lowered its guidance for the full year.

Ascena Retail Group, Inc. ASNA was down, falling 24% to $ 2.19 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q2 sales.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 10.5% to $34.39, while gold traded down 1.3% to $1,654.00.

Silver traded down 0.8% Tuesday to $16.91, while copper rose 0.5% to $2.5235.

Euro zone

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 1.14% the Spanish Ibex Index fell 3.21%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 3.28% Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 1.41%, and the French CAC 40 fell 1.51% while UK shares fell 0.09%.

Economics

The NFIB small business optimism index increased 0.2 point to a reading of 104.5 in February.