Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Climbs 450 Points; American Eagle Outfitters Shares Slide

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 1.97% to 23,472.24 while the NASDAQ rose 2.73% to 8488.80. The S&P also rose, gaining 2.22% to 2,797.34.

The U.S. is the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic with the highest number of cases and deaths around the world. U.S. reported a total of 825,300 coronavirus cases with around 45,070 deaths. Spain confirmed a total of over 208,380 coronavirus cases with 21,710 deaths, while Italy reported a total of at least 183,950 confirmed cases and 24,640 deaths. In total, there were at least 2,585,460 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 178,840 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares climbed 3.2% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Akoustis Technologies, Inc. AKTS, up 14%, and Manhattan Associates, Inc. MANH, up 12%.

In trading on Wednesday, consumer staples shares rose by just 0.8%.

Top Headline

Kimberly-Clark Corp KMB reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter.

Kimberly-Clark posted quarterly earnings of $2.13 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.96 per share. Its sales came in at $5.00 billion, versus expectations of $4.88 billion.

Equities Trading UP

The Peck Company Holdings, Inc. PECK shares shot up 65% to $5.78 after the company announced it would align capital for the construction of new solar projects with GreenBond Advisors from Green Bond Partnership.

Shares of SAExploration Holdings, Inc. SAEX got a boost, shooting 109% to $2.34 after the company disclosed a new project in Greece.

Delek Logistics Partners, LP DKL shares were also up, gaining 52% to $13.38. Delek Logistics Partners increased its quarterly dividend to $0.89 per share.

Equities Trading DOWN

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. AEO shares tumbled 16% to $6.97 after the company suspended its buyback program and deferred payment of its Q1 dividend.

Shares of Actinium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ATNM were down 24% to $0.1790. Actinium Pharmaceuticals priced its 183 million share public offering at $0.15 per share.

VBI Vaccines Inc. VBIV was down, falling 28% to $1.1250. VBI Vaccines priced its 45.45 million share offering at $1.10 per share.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 24.3% to $14.38, while gold traded up 2.9% to $1,736.00.

Silver traded up 2.9% Wednesday to $15.30, while copper rose 2.5% to $2.2855.

Euro zone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 1.8%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.28%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 1.91%. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 1.6%, and the French CAC 40 rose 1.25% while UK shares rose 2.3%.

Economics

The FHFA house price index climbed increased 0.7% in February, versus a revised 0.5% rise in January.

U.S. crude supplies climbed 15 million barrels for the week ended April 17, the Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were estimating a gain of 12.9 million barrels. Gasoline supplies surged 1 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles increased 7.9 million barrels last week.