Gold faced a significant decline of over 2% on Tuesday, while 3M (NYSE:MMM) pleasantly surprised investors with profit that exceeded expectations in the first quarter of 2024.
As the trading day came to a close, U.S. stocks saw a downtrend, with the Dow Jones falling by approximately 1%. The Dow was down by 0.99% to 38,005.55, the NASDAQ dropped by 1.09% to 15,808.29, and the S&P 500 also experienced a decline, slipping by 0.85% to 5,072.88.
Despite the overall negative sentiment in the market, some sectors managed to perform well, with health care shares increasing by 0.1% on Tuesday. However, the energy sector saw a significant decline of 2.1%.
3M Company reported net sales of $8.00 billion, a slight decrease of 0.35% year-over-year. Nonetheless, adjusted net sales grew to $7.72 billion, up 0.5% from the previous year, surpassing market expectations. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $2.39, higher than the $1.97 reported in the same period last year, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10.
In terms of stock movements, Akili, Inc. (NYSE: AKLI) saw a notable increase of 64% after announcing a debt forgiveness and certain payments related to SDT-001 by Shionogi. GeneDx Holdings Corp. (NYSE: WGS) also experienced a surge of 47% following the release of better-than-expected financial results for the first quarter and an upward revision of its full-year sales guidance. Similarly, shares of Global Mofy Metaverse Limited (NYSE: GMM) went up by 49% after announcing a new collaboration with Heartdub to develop the Gausspeed generative AI platform.
On the flip side, Chegg, Inc. (NYSE: CHGG) witnessed a 27% drop in its stock price after reporting its first-quarter financial results, leading Piper Sandler to reiterate an Underweight rating on the stock and lower its price target. NRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: NRXP) also struggled, with its shares falling by 25% following the announcement of findings from its Phase 2b/3 trial of NRX-101 versus Lurasidone. Medifast, Inc. (NYSE: MED) was another stock in the red, declining by 21% after reporting mixed financial results for the first quarter.
In the commodities market, oil prices slipped by 0.7% to $82.08 per barrel, while gold experienced a more significant decline of 2.2%, trading at $2,306.60 per ounce. Similarly, silver dropped by 3.7% to $26.645 per ounce, and copper fell by 2.5% to $4.5590 per pound.
In other global markets, European shares were lower, with the eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipping by 0.68%. In the UK, consumer credit increased in March compared to the previous month, while the German economy showed signs of growth in the first quarter.
Across Asia, markets closed mixed with Japan’s Nikkei 225 posting a gain of 1.24% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index edging up by 0.09%. China’s Shanghai Composite and India’s S&P BSE Sensex witnessed declines on Tuesday.
Overall, the global market saw a mixed performance across different sectors and regions, indicating ongoing volatility and uncertainty in the current economic landscape.
