Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Gold Rises 5%; Signet Jewelers Shares Plummet

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded down 3.09% to 18,581. while the NASDAQ fell 0.93% to 6,815. The S&P also fell, dropping 3.09% to 2,234.

US reported a total of 35,000 coronavirus cases with around 470 deaths. Italy reported a total of at least 59,000 confirmed cases and 5,400 deaths, while Spain confirmed a total of over 33,000 coronavirus cases. Mainland China reported no new domestic coronavirus cases on Monday. In total, there are at least 349,000 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 15,000 deaths.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer discretionary shares rose 0.4% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Penn National Gaming, Inc. PENN, up 25%, and Franchise Group, Inc. FRG, up 25%.

In trading on Monday, energy shares dipped 6.5%.

Top Headline

The Federal Reserve lifted restrictions on its quantitative easing asset purchases and launched multiple new stimulus programs aimed at lending to small businesses and maintaining liquidity in the credit markets.

The Fed said it will no longer quantify its quantitative easing, seemingly pledging to devote any amount of money necessary to buying assets in the near-term.

Equities Trading UP

Hoth Therapeutics, Inc HOTH shares shot up 74% to $4.8092 after the company reported a deal to jointly develop self-assembling vaccine for potential coronavirus treatment.

Shares of Zoom Video Communications, Inc. ZM got a boost, shooting 20% to $156.25. During the coronavirus outbreak, several events, meetings and university classes have been cancelled as parties opt for virtual communication methods, which have been seen as a positive for the company.

Waitr Holdings Inc. WTRH shares were also up, gaining 21% to $1.47 after reporting a partnership with Ralph's Market to expand into grocery delivery.

Equities Trading DOWN

Frontier Communications Corporation FTR shares tumbled 56% to $0.3999 after jumping around 279% on Friday.

Shares of Despegar.com, Corp. DESP were down 26% to $5.17 after the company withdrew its Q1 guidance.

Signet Jewelers Limited SIG was down, falling 26% to $5.74 after the company announced plans to temporarily close all North American stores.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 0.2% to $22.58, while gold traded up 5% to $1,559.

Silver traded up 6.2% Monday to $13.155, while copper fell 3.2% to $2.1015.

Euro zone

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 4.3% the Spanish Ibex Index fell 3.31%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 1.09%. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 2.1%, and the French CAC 40 fell 3.32% while UK shares fell 3.79%.

Economics

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index climbed to +0.16 in February, versus a reading of -0.33 in the prior month.