Amidst the hustle and bustle of Wall Street, the Nasdaq Composite stumbled, shedding around 100 points, while the housing market in the US witnessed a robust surge in February.
When the market opened on Tuesday, the Dow saw a modest uptick of 0.11% to 38,831.86. In sharp contrast, the NASDAQ spiraled downwards by 0.63% to 16,001.30. The S&P 500 joined the downtrend, slipping by 0.28% to 5,135.12.
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Leading versus Lagging Sectors
Energy stocks experienced an upturn of 0.4% on Tuesday.
On the flip side, information technology shares floundered, declining by 0.8%.
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In a striking development, housing starts in the US saw a remarkable surge of 10.7% month-over-month, hitting an annualized rate of 1.521 million in February, following a notable 12.3% decline in January.
Winning Equities
Ontrak, Inc. OTRK saw its shares soar by a staggering 153% to $0.4787 ahead of the company’s presentation at the 36th Annual Roth Conference.
Meanwhile, Fusion Pharmaceuticals Inc. FUSN experienced a boost, with shares surging by 97% to $21.00 after announcing its acquisition by AstraZeneca. On another note, Leerink Partners downgraded the stock from Outperform to Market Perform but bumped up the price target from $17 to $21.
Enveric Biosciences, Inc. ENVB also witnessed a rise, with shares climbing by 44% to $1.59 after sealing two non-binding term sheets with an undisclosed biotechnology firm to explore the out-licensing of cannabinoid-COX-2 conjugate compounds for treating joint diseases in pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical realms.
Losing Equities
Greenwave Technology Solutions, Inc. GWAV encountered a stark decline of 56% to $0.1627. The company announced a restructuring of its senior secured debt.
Meanwhile, shares of Seelos Therapeutics, Inc. SEEL tumbled by 53% to $0.43 after the company disclosed that its ALS study with SLS-005 did not meet statistical significance in the primary and secondary endpoint in the Full Analysis Set.
Peraso Inc. PRSO faced a decline, dropping by 22% to $1.34 post revealing weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter EPS results.
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Commodities Snapshot
In the commodities realm, oil edged up by 0.1% to $82.79, whereas gold retreated by 0.3% to $2,157.70.
Silver descended by 0.5% to $25.145 on Tuesday, with copper also taking a hit, falling by 1.1% to $4.0830.
European Market Vibes
The European stock landscape painted a mixed picture today. The Eurozone’s STOXX 600 slid by 0.2%, London’s FTSE 100 sagged by 0.3%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index flexed its muscles, rising by 0.3%. The German DAX experienced a minor 0.1% dip, but the French CAC 40 boasted a 0.20% gain, and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index saw a 0.3% rise.
The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for the Eurozone showed promise, climbing by 8.5 points to hit a reading of 33.5 in March. On another front, wages in the Eurozone posted a 3.1% year-over-year increase in the fourth quarter. Hourly labor costs also elevated, by 3.4% year-over-year for the quarter.
The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany painted a rosy picture as well, surging to a reading of +31.7 in March, marking its highest point since February 2022.
Asia Pacific Market Roundup
The Asian markets depicted a mixed bag on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 danced upwards by 0.66%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index endured a 1.24% downturn. China’s Shanghai Composite Index took a hit, dipping by 0.72%, and India’s S&P BSE Sensex also bore a 0.87% decline.
In Japan, industrial production saw a downtick of 6.7% month-over-month in January, better than the preliminary figure of a 7.5% decline. The Bank of Japan also tweaked its key short-term interest rate to hover around 0% to 0.1%.
Economic Outlook
The housing sector in the US continues to be a beacon of hope, as housing starts surged by 10.7% month-over-month to reach an annualized rate of 1.521 million in February, bouncing back from a 12.3% decline in January. Additionally, US building permits experienced a lift, rising by 1.9% to an annual rate of 1.518 million in February, surpassing market expectations set at 1.495 million.
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