The Nasdaq Composite traded lower on Tuesday, weighed down by the tech sector. Shares of Facebook Inc. (FB, Financial) continued to decline, tumbling approximately 20%. Microsoft Corp. (MSFT, Financial) also fell on Tuesday, dragging the tech sector lower and reversing yesterday's rebound.
Another stock with a severe decline was Longfin Corp. (LFIN, Financial), which slid 38%. The cryptocurrency stock lost almost half its value over two days after the FTSE Russell announced the stock will be removed from the Russell 2000 index. In 2017, Longfin bought Ziddu.com, a blockchain tech provider in the microfinance lending market, but the company failed to meet the index's free-floating shares requirement.
RXi Pharmaceuticals Corp. (RXII, Financial) fell after the company reported its financial results for the fourth quarter. The company posted a loss of 84 cents, but beat analysts' estimates by 12 cents.
Dr. Geert Cauwenbergh, president and CEO, said, "In early 2018, RXi announced a strategic decision to solely focus its development efforts on novel immuno-oncology treatments based on its self-delivering RNAi platform. We have made good progress by entering in development collaborations with some major cancer research centers in Europe and in the US. The first results from these collaborations are promising and support our goals to enter into clinical testing in the coming 12 to 18 months".
On the other hand, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK, Financial) rose after announcing it will buy Novartis' (NVS, Financial) 36.5% stake in a consumer health care joint venture valued at $13 billion. The transaction will contribute to Glaxo's earnings and strengthen the growth of its core business.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
