Mid-afternoon market update: Crude Oil down 1.5%; Performant Financial (PFMT Stock) shares spike higher

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.24% to 33,092.42 while the NASDAQ fell 0.36% to 13,013.13. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.36% to 3,956.96.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 30,332,160 cases with around 550,070 deaths. Brazil reported over 12,573,610 COVID-19 cases with 313,860 deaths, while India confirmed a total of at least 12,095,850 cases and 162,110 deaths. In total, there were at least 127,720,210 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 2,793,560 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Financial shares rose 0.8% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included X Financial XYF 11.29%, up 14%, and Bit Digital, Inc. BTBT 12.21%, up 14%.

In trading on Tuesday, utilities shares fell 1.2%.

Top Headline

McCormick & Company, Incorporated MKC 0.18% reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter and raised its FY21 earnings outlook.

McCormick posted quarterly earnings of $0.72 per share, exceeding analysts’ estimates of $0.58 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $1.48 billion, versus expectations of $1.38 billion.

McCormick said it now expects FY21 adjusted earnings of $2.97-$3.02 per share, versus prior forecast of $2.91-$2.96 per share.

Equities Trading UP

VirTra, Inc. VTSI 89.33% shares shot up 92% to $9.18 after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 results.

Shares of Color Star Technology Co., Ltd. CSCW 35.08% got a boost, shooting 37% to $1.8384 after the company announced the development and application of its non-fungible token for its entertainment business.

Performant Financial Corporation PFMT 27.18% shares were also up, gaining 23% to $1.8399 after the company reported Q4 results. The company also said Monday it intends to focus future investments on the long-term growth and profitability of its Healthcare operations.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Trxade Group, Inc. MEDS 28.67% shares tumbled 28% to $5.22 following Q4 results. Trxade Group posted a net loss of $0.29 per share in the fourth quarter versus a year-ago net loss of $0.04 per shares. Its revenue climbed 17.1% to $2 million.

Shares of Wave Life Sciences Ltd. WVE 18.76% were down 26% to $5.22 after the company announced data from the Phase 1b/2a trials evaluating investigational treatments WVE-120102 and WVE-120101, in Huntington's disease, showing both candidates did not produce statistically significant change in mutant huntingtin protein versus placebo after single or multiple doses. The company said it will stop the study of both candidates and instead focus on WVE-120103.

SeaChange International, Inc. SEAC 27.89% was down, falling 31% to $1.4350 after the company priced its 10,323,484 share common stock offering at $1.85 per share.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.5% to $60.62, while gold traded down 1.8% to $1,684.40.

Silver traded down 2.9% Tuesday to $24.065 while copper fell 1.6% to $3.9695.

Euro zone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.71%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.21% and the German DAX 30 gained 1.29%. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 rose 1.21%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.53% and Italy’s FTSE MIB gained 0.88%.

Import prices in Germany rose 1.4% year-over-year in February following a 1.2% drop in January. Retail sales in Spain dropped 5.9%year-over-year in February. French consumer confidence index rose to 94 in March from 91 in February.

Economics

The S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller home price index climbed 11.1% year-over-year in January.

The FHFA house price index rose 1% for January.

The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index jumped to 109.70 for March from previous reading of 91.30.