Mid-Day Market Update: Crude Oil Down 1.5%; Axovant Shares Spike Higher

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.42 percent to 24,903.81 while the NASDAQ declined 0.09 percent to 7,631.36. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.12 percent to 2,752.02.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Wednesday, the financial shares surged 1 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Senmiao Technology Limited AIHS up 8 percent, and MBIA Inc. MBI up 5 percent.

In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares fell 1.29 percent.

Top Headline

Signet Jewelers Ltd. SIG reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter.

Signet posted adjusted earnings of $0.10 per share on revenue of $1.5 billion. However, analysts were expecting a loss of $0.05 per share on revenue of $1.4 billion. The company reiterated its FY19 adjusted earnings outlook.

Equities Trading UP

Vascular Biogenics Ltd. VBLT shares shot up 30 percent to $2.80 after announcing the company will present data on Novel MOSPD2 program in oncology and inflammation at BIO convention.

Shares of Axovant Sciences Ltd. AXON got a boost, shooting up 139 percent to $4.18 in reaction to a new licensing agreement. The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that focuses on neurologic conditions said it entered into an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with Oxford BioMedica. As part of the agreement, Axovant will develop and commercialize Oxford's OXB-102 gene therapy for the treatment of Parkinson's utilizing the LentiVector platform.

Signet Jewelers Limited SIG shares were also up, gaining 18 percent to $52.1884 after reporting better-than-expected results for its first quarter.

Equities Trading DOWN

Ambarella, Inc. AMBA shares dropped 13 percent to $43.04. Ambarella reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter, but issued weak sales forecast for the current quarter.

Shares of YY Inc. YY were down 7 percent to $112.94 after reporting Q1 results following Q1 results.

First Solar, Inc. FSLR was down, falling around 8 percent to $53.68. JMP Securities downgraded First Solar from Market Outperform to Market Underperform and lowered the price target from $87 to $46.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.5 percent to $64.51 while gold traded up 0.10 percent to $1,303.50.

Silver traded up 0.92 percent Wednesday to $16.695, while copper rose 1.38 to $3.2425.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.49 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.52 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.50 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.26 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.59 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.17 percent.

Economics

U.S. nonfarm productivity rose 0.40 percent for the first quarter, versus economists’ expectations for 0.70 percent gain.

U.S. trade deficit declined 2.1 percent to $46.2 billion in April. Exports increased 0.3 percent to $211.2 billion, while imports dropped 0.2 percent to $257.4 billion.

Crude supplies rose 2.1 million barrels for the week ended June 1, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts expected a drop of 1.3 million barrels. Gasoline stockpiles gained 4.6 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles gained 2.2 million barrels for the week.