Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.07 percent to 24,775.80 while the NASDAQ declined 0.16 percent to
6,983.31. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.04 percent to 2,689.17.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Tuesday morning, the non-cyclical consumer goods & services sector proved to be a source of strength for the market.
In trading on Tuesday, utilities shares fell 0.38 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included PPL Corp (NYSE:
PPL), down 3 percent, and Genie Energy Ltd (NYSE:
GNE) down 2 percent.
Top Headline
Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: DRI) reported
stronger-than-expected earnings for its second quarter.
Darden reported Q2 earnings of $0.73 per share on revenue of $1.88 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of $0.70 per share
on revenue of $1.85 billion.
Darden raised its FY 2018 earnings guidance from $4.38-$4.50 per share, to $4.45-$4.53 per share.
Equities Trading UP
China Recycling Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CREG) shares
shot up 38 percent to $3.77 following news of an energy storage development cooperation contract with Shanghai Electric and Fujian
Tongyong.
Shares of Pfenex Inc (NYSE: PFNX) got a boost,
shooting up 37 percent to $2.85. Pfenex earned $18.5 million in milestones and updated worldwide license and option agreement with
Jazz Pharmaceuticals.
Riot Blockchain Inc (NASDAQ: RIOT) shares were
also up, gaining 13 percent to $41.15. Riot Blockchain reported a $37 million private placement.
Equities Trading DOWN
Yield10 Bioscience Inc (NASDAQ: YTEN) shares
dropped 26 percent to $2.12 after the company reported pricing of its $12.6 million underwritten public offering.
Shares of ImmuCell Corporation (NASDAQ: ICCC) were
down 15 percent to $7.49. ImmuCell priced its $3 million offering at $7.30 per share.
FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE: FDS) was down,
falling around 7 percent to $190.20. FactSet posted upbeat Q1 earnings, while sales missed estimates.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.40 percent to $57.39 while gold traded down 0.05 percent to $1,264.90.
Silver traded down 0.09 percent Tuesday to $16.19, while copper fell 0.38 percent to $3.134.
Eurozone
European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.06 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.31
percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.18 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX slipped 0.18 percent, and the French CAC 40
dropped 0.09 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.11 percent.
Economics
U.S. housing starts rose 3.3 percent to an annual rate of 1.297 million in November. Economists were expecting a 1.27 million
annual rate.
U.S. current account deficit dropped 19 percent to $100.6 billion in the third quarter.
The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index declined 0.4 percent during the first three weeks of December versus November.
The Treasury is set to auction 4-week bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.
Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari is set to speak in Roseville, Minnesota at 1:10 p.m. ET.
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