Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; D. R. Horton Earnings Top Views

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded down 1.4% to 28578.79 while the NASDAQ fell 1.84% to 9143.67. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.48% to 3,246.81.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares slipped by just 0.1% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included South Jersey Industries Inc SJI, up 2%, and Azure Power Global Ltd AZRE, up 2%.

In trading on Monday, information technology shares fell 2%.

Top Headline

D. R. Horton Inc DHI reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter.

D.R. Horton reported adjusted first-quarterly earnings of $1.07 per share on Monday, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of 92 cents. The company reported quarterly sales of $4.021 billion, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $3.77 billion.

The company raised fiscal year 2020 sales guidance from $18.5-$19 billion to $18.5-19.1 billion.

Equities Trading UP

NanoViricides, Inc. NNVC shares shot up 70% to $14.35 as the Wuhan coronavirus continues to spread, boosting the demand outlook for a potential vaccine. Some companies have said they are initiating development of a coronavirus vaccine.

Shares of Vaccinex, Inc. VCNX got a boost, shooting up 47% to $10.14 after climbing 32.2% on Friday.

Allied Healthcare Products, Inc. AHPI shares were also up, gaining 39% to $4.02. Shares of Allied Healthcare Products jumped over 93% on Friday amid worries over the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak.

Equities Trading DOWN

NeuroMetrix, Inc. NURO shares tumbled 30% to $3.3281 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q4 sales results.

Shares of SAExploration Holdings, Inc. SAEX were down 16% to $2.54 after the rising 33% on Friday.

Pintec Technology Holdings Limited PT was down, falling 15% to $2.16.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 2.7% to $52.71, while gold traded up 0.6% to $1,581.10.

Silver traded up 0.8% Monday to $18.25, while copper fell 2% to $2.6325.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 1.9%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.5%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.7% Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 2.2%, and the French CAC 40 fell 2.1% while UK shares fell 2%.

Economics

U.S. new home sales fell 0.4% to an annual rate of 694,000 for December.

The Dallas Fed manufacturing index for January is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The Treasury is set to auction 6-month bills and 2-year notes at 11:30 a.m. ET.

The Treasury will auction 3-month bills and 5-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.