Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Rises Over 200 Points; Michaels Companies Shares Jump Following Upbeat Results

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.83% to 26334.24 while the NASDAQ rose 1.22% to 7,969.97. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.98% to 2,934.82.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares climbed 1.5% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Himax Technologies, Inc. HIMX, up 14%, and Box, Inc. BOX, up 13%.

In trading on Wednesday, health care shares fell 0.2%.

Top Headline

Navistar International Corp NAV reported better-than-expected Q3 results.

Navistar reported third-quarter earnings of $1.56 per share, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.17. The company reported quarterly sales of $3 billion, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $2.89 billion.

Equities Trading UP

OpGen, Inc. OPGN shares shot up 37% to $8.90 after the company announced it will acquire Curetis.

Shares of Michaels Companies Inc MIK got a boost, shooting up 12% to $6.25 as the company reported stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter.

Clearside Biomedical, Inc. CLSD shares were also up, gaining 20% to $0.7021 after the company announced an option and license agreement for exclusive worldwide rights to its SCS Microinjector with REGENXBIO.

Equities Trading DOWN

Eltek Ltd. ELTK shares tumbled 30% to $4.23 after the company reported Q2 sales lower from last year.

Shares of Vera Bradley, Inc. VRA were down 15% to $8.96 following downbeat Q2 earnings.

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. AEO was down, falling 12% to $14.27 after the company issued Q3 EPS guidance below analyst estimates. However, the company posted upbeat quarterly results.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 4.2% to $56.22, while gold traded up 0.5% to $1,563.7.

Silver traded up 2% Wednesday to $19.625, while copper rose 2.5% to $2.592.

Euro zone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 0.89%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.54%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 1.58%. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 0.96% and the French CAC 40 climbed 1.21% while UK shares rose 0.59%.

Economics

Data on motor vehicle sales for August will be released today.

The U.S. trade deficit declined around 3% to $54 billion in July, versus a revised $55.5 billion in the previous month. However, economists expected a $53.4 billion deficit. U.S. exports increased 0.6% to $207.4 billion, while imports fell 0.1% to $261.4 billion.

The Federal Open Market Committee released its latest Beige Book report.

Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans will speak in Detroit, Michigan at 3:15 p.m. ET.