Mid-afternoon market update: Dow jumps 500 points, AeroVironment shares plunge

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 1.47% to 35,743.21 while the NASDAQ rose 3.10% to 15,697.72. The S&P also rose, gaining 2.11% to 4,688.75.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 50,149,320 cases with around 810,250 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 34,648,380 cases and 473,750 deaths, while Brazil reported over 22,147,470 COVID-19 cases with 615,780 deaths. In total, there were at least 266,849,780 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 5,281,070 deaths.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares climbed 3.6% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Greenidge Generation Holdings Inc. GREE +15.71% (Get Free Alerts for GREE), up 14% and MongoDB, Inc. MDB +15.98% (Get Free Alerts for MDB) up 17%.

In trading on Tuesday, consumer staples shares rose by just 0.4%.

Top Headline

AutoZone, Inc. AZO +7.28% reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter.

AutoZone reported a quarterly profit of $25.69 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $20.87 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $3.70 billion, versus expectations of $3.37 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Siyata Mobile Inc. SYTA +76.81% shares shot up 128% to $6.30 after the company announced it received a $1.3 million purchase order primarily for police and first responder customers in the EMEA for its SD7 ruggedized devices, VK7 vehicle units and other accessories.

Shares of TESSCO Technologies Incorporated TESS +31.14% got a boost, shooting 29% to $6.66 after Lakeview Investment Group proposed to buy the company for $7.50 per share in cash.

MongoDB, Inc. MDB +15.98% (Get Free Alerts for MDB) shares were also up, gaining 17% to $501.45 after the company reported better-than-expected Q3 results and issued FY22 guidance above estimates.

Equities Trading DOWN

HealthEquity, Inc. HQY -23.94% shares tumbled 23% to $43.88 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q3 sales results and issued FY22 guidance below estimates. Raymond James downgraded HealthEquity from Strong Buy to Outperform and lowered the price target from $90 to $70.

Shares of Insignia Systems, Inc. ISIG -30.4% were down 35% to $9.86. Insignia Systems shares jumped 200% on Monday after the company announced the commencement of a formal process to explore strategic options to maximize shareholder value, including potential merger or acquisition.

AeroVironment, Inc. AVAV -29.77% was down, falling 26% to $59.21 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q2 sales results and issued FY22 guidance below analyst estimates.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 4.4% to $72.55, while gold traded up 0.3% to $1,785.20.

Silver traded up 1.2% Tuesday to $22.535 while copper fell 0.1% to $4.3360.

Euro zone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 2.45%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.42% and the German DAX 30 gained 2.82%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 climbed 1.49%, French CAC 40 jumped 2.91% and Italy’s FTSE MIB surged 2.41%.

The number of employed persons in the Eurozone increased 0.9% on quarter to 160.8 million during the three months to September. French current account deficit shrank to EUR 2.6 billion in October from EUR 2.8 billion in the prior month, while trade deficit widened to EUR 7.513 billion from a revised EUR 6.943 billion. The Halifax house price index in the UK climbed 8.2% year-over-year in November, while German industrial production rose 2.8% in October.

Economics

The US trade deficit shrank to $67.1 billion in October from a record high $81.4 billion deficit in September.

Nonfarm labor productivity declined an annualized 5.2% in the third quarter, while unit labor costs rose an annualized 9.6%.

The IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index rose to 48.4 in December from 43.9 in November.

Data on consumer credit for October will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.