Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow tumbles over 500 points, Rekor systems shares plummet

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 1.54% to 34,206.70 while the NASDAQ fell 0.19% to 13,376.83. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.01% to 4,146.05.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 32,744,400 cases with around 582,160 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 22,992,510 cases and 249,990 deaths, while Brazil reported over 15,209,990 COVID-19 cases with 423,220 deaths. In total, there were at least 158,988,250 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 3,304,920 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Materials shares slipped by just 0.1% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Ferro Corporation FOE 23.68%, up 23%, and FutureFuel Corp. FF 26.74%, up 20%.

In trading on Tuesday, energy shares dipped 2.2%.

Top Headline

TransDigm Group Incorporated TDG 0.28% reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter.

TransDigm reported quarterly earnings of $2.58 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $2.51 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $1.19 billion, versus expectations of $1.17 billion.

TransDigm also said its FY21 guidance remains suspended.

Equities Trading UP

Ferro Corporation FOE 23.68% shares shot up 23% to $21.60 after the company agreed to be acquired by Price International Corporation in a $2.1 billion all-cash transaction. The company also reported upbeat quarterly earnings.

Shares of ShockWave Medical, Inc. SWAV 17.8% got a boost, shooting 23% to $166.05 after the company reported better-than-expected Q1 sales and also issued strong FY21 sales forecast.

3D Systems Corporation DDD 35.44% shares were also up, gaining 26% to $22.37 after the company reported better-than-expected Q1 results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Alset EHome International Inc. AEI 34.38% shares tumbled 34% to $4.1799. Alset EHome International priced $32.0 million underwritten public offering of units.

Shares of Larimar Therapeutics, Inc. LRMR 36.28% were down 26% to $9.70 after the company announced topline data from its Phase 1 multiple ascending dose trial evaluating CTI-1601 as a treatment for Friedreich's Ataxia (FA).

Rekor Systems, Inc. REKR 17.87% was down, falling 22% to $10.70 after the company reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.7% to $65.34, while gold traded down 0.1% to $1,835.80.

Silver traded up 0.7% Tuesday to $27.670 while copper rose 1.4% to $4.7840.

Euro zone

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dipped 1.97%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.72% and the German DAX 30 dropped 1.82%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 fell 2.47%, French CAC 40 fell 1.86% and Italy’s FTSE MIB declined 1.64%.

The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for the Eurozone surged 17.7 points to 84 in May, while German ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment climbed 13.7 points to 84.4. Germany’s wholesale prices rose 7.2% year-over-year in April, while industrial production in Italy fell 0.1% in March.

Economics

The NFIB small business optimism index increased by 1.6 points to a reading of 99.8 in April.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index jumped 13.3% year-over-year during the first week of May.

The number of job openings climbed 597,000 from the prior month to 8.123 million in March.