Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; RPM International Profit Tops Estimates

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.56% to 22,780.65 while the NASDAQ rose 0.48% to 7,925.28. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.57% to 2,674.44.

The U.S. is now the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic with the highest number of cases around the world. U.S. reported a total of 399,900 coronavirus cases with around 12,900 deaths. Spain confirmed a total of over 146,600 coronavirus cases with 14,500 deaths, while Italy reported a total of at least 135,500 confirmed cases and 17,100 deaths. In total, there were at least 1,446,500 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 83,100 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed 2.6% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included KNOT Offshore Partners LP KNOP, up 12%, and Golar LNG Limited GLNG, up 16%.

In trading on Wednesday, consumer staples shares fell 0.2%.

Top Headline

RPM International Inc. RPM reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter, while sales missed views.

RPM International reported quarterly earnings of $0.23 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $0.21 per share. The company’s sales came in at $1.17 billion, missing the consensus view of $1.17 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Moleculin Biotech, Inc. MBRX shares shot up 181% to $1.58 after it said that independent research found 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG)to reduce replication of coronavirus by 100% in the Vitro Testing. The company also noted the 2-DG is an active compound in its WP1122 Drug.

Shares of Ellington Financial Inc. EFC got a boost, shooting 61% to $8.42 after the company issued business updates. Ellington Financial declared a dividend of $0.08 per common share. As of March 31, 2020, Ellington had unrestricted cash of around $130 million.

Ellington Residential Mortgage REIT EARN shares were also up, gaining 44% to $7.83 after the company announced an estimated book value per share of $11.33 as of March 31, 2020. The company also announced plans to pay its Q1 dividend of $0.28 per share in cash.

Equities Trading DOWN

Youngevity International, Inc. YYI shares tumbled 24% to $2.06 after surging 275% on Tuesday.

Shares of Zomedica Pharmaceuticals Corp. ZOM were down 26% to $0.1231 after the company reported the pricing of $4 million public offering.

eHealth, Inc. EHTH was down, falling 17% to $97.60 after dropping 10.5% on Tuesday.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 3.5% to $24.45, while gold traded down 0.3% to $1,679.30.

Silver traded down 1% Wednesday to $15.32, while copper fell 0.5% to $2.2615.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 1%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.2%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.7%. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.9%, and the French CAC 40 fell 1.5% while UK shares fell 1.1%.

Economics

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The Treasury is set to auction 30-year bonds at 1:00 p.m. ET.

The Federal Open Market Committee will issue minutes of its latest meeting at 2:00 p.m. ET.