Mid-Day Market Update: NASDAQ Turns Negative; Syndax Pharmaceuticals Shares Jump

Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.14% to 24167.41 while the NASDAQ fell 0.8% to 8662.89. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.02% to 2,877.81.

The U.S. is the new epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic with the highest number of cases and deaths around the world. U.S. reported a total of 988,460 coronavirus cases with around 56,250 deaths. Spain confirmed a total of over 229,420 coronavirus cases with 23,520 deaths, while Italy reported a total of at least 199,410 confirmed cases and 26,970 deaths. In total, there were at least 3,053,960 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 211,520 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Financial shares climbed 1.1% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. GGAL, up 14%, and Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. BSBR, up 11%.

In trading on Tuesday, health care shares fell 1.8%.

Top Headline

PepsiCo, Inc. PEP reported stronger-than-expected earnings and sales for its first quarter.

PepsiCo reported quarterly earnings of $1.07 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.03 per share. The company’s sales came in at $13.88 billion, exceeding the consensus view of $13.21 billion.

PepsiCo and Bang Energy reported a distribution deal for North America.

Equities Trading UP

Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc. SNDX shares shot up 56% to $17.94 after the company presented positive preclinical and initial clinical data for SNDX-5613, its potent, highly selective oral menin inhibitor, with the data suggesting the investigational asset can induce response in patients with genetically-defined acute leukemias.

Shares of iBio, Inc. IBIO got a boost, shooting 41% to $1.29 after the company provided an update on its COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing capacity. The company estimates it can make roughly 500 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from its FastPharming facility.

NGL Energy Partners LP NGL shares were also up, gaining 28% to $4.1599 after the partnership re-confirmed its fiscal year 2020 forecast and approved quarterly distributions.

Equities Trading DOWN

Gaia, Inc. GAIA shares tumbled 14% to $8.72 after the company reported downbeat Q1 results.

Shares of Avinger, Inc. AVGR were down 23% to $0.2650 after the company priced its $3.15 million underwritten public offering of common stock.

Blueprint Medicines Corporation BPMC was down, falling 20% to $56.92 after the company's Phase 3 VOYAGER trial of Avapritinib did not meet its primary endpoint.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 5.6% to $12.06, while gold traded down 0.5% to $1,714.50.

Silver traded down 0.9% Tuesday to $15.08, while copper fell 0.5% to $2.3405.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 1.06%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.65%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 1.33%. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.68%, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.83% while UK shares rose 1.56%.

Economics

The Federal Open Market Committee begins its two-day policy meeting today.

U.S. goods deficit increased to $64.22 billion in March, versus $59.9 billion in the prior month.

U.S. wholesale inventories fell 1% in March.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index for the latest week is scheduled for release at 8:55 a.m. ET.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index rose 3.5% year-over-year in February.

The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index fell to 86.90 in April, versus prior revised reading of 118.80.

The Richmond Fed manufacturing index dipped to -53.00 in April, versus prior reading of 2.00.

The Treasury is set to auction 7-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.