Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Dips 950 Points; Carter's Shares Fall On Earnings Miss

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded down 3.28% to 28042 while the NASDAQ fell 3.59% to 9232.86. The S&P also fell, dropping 3.17% to 3232.07.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares slipped just 0.9% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Avangrid, Inc. AGR 1.02%, up 1%, and Artesian Resources Corporation ARTNB 1.34%, up 1%.

In trading on Monday, energy shares fell 4.6%.

Top Headline

U.S. stocks tumbled in today’s trading, as worries over the spread of the coronavirus outside China continued to rise.

Confirmed cases of the virus climbed in South Korea to 833 as at least 231 new cases were reported on Monday alone. Italy has confirmed at least 152 cases of the coronavirus with four reported deaths. Hong Kong also reported a rise of five more cases of the coronavirus on Monday, bringing the total to 79 cases.

Equities Trading UP

NanoViricides, Inc. NNVC 36.87% shares shot up 42% to $9.40 following continued increase in the number of coronavirus cases outside China. Italy now has over 200 confirmed cases in 7 different regions. South Korean officials have reported over 700 cases of coronavirus and Iran has seen 50 deaths from the virus.

Shares of Cemtrex, Inc. CETX 21.94% got a boost, shooting 35% to $1.8788 following news it received $300,000 of orders for the development of virtual reality applications.

Cocrystal Pharma, Inc. COCP 167.86% shares were also up, gaining 152% to $1.255 following a licensing agreement the company reached with the Kansas State University Research Foundation. Cocrystal said the agreement with KSURF gives it an exclusive, royalty-bearing right and license to certain antiviral compounds for the treatment of norovirus and coronavirus infections covered by the latter's patents.

Equities Trading DOWN

Dorman Products, Inc. DORM 13.22% shares tumbled 16% to $64.57 after the company reported downbeat Q4 results and issued weak FY20 earnings outlook.

Shares of Lumber Liquidators Holdings, Inc. LL 17.48% were down 17% to $8.69. Lumber Liquidators is expected to report quarterly results on Tuesday before the opening bell. Heading into the earnings report, shares of the company have been up 8 straight sessions and gained more than 40%.

Carter's, Inc. CRI 12.93% was down, falling 14% to $95.11 after the company reported downbeat Q4 earnings and issued weak FY20 earnings forecast. The company also announced a $500 million buyback program.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 4.9% to $50.79, while gold traded up 1.7% to $1,676.40.

Silver traded up 1.9% Monday to $18.875, while copper fell 1.3% to $2.5735.

Euro zone

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 3.79% the Spanish Ibex Index declined 4.07%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dipped 5.43% Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 4.01%, and the French CAC 40 fell 3.94% while UK shares fell 3.34%.

Economics

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index climbed to -0.25 in January, versus a revised reading of -0.51 in the prior month.

The Dallas Fed manufacturing index increased to 1.2 in February, versus a reading of -0.2 in the prior month.