Mid-Day Market Update: NASDAQ Tops 10,000; Curis Shares Spike Higher

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.45% to 27149.76 while the NASDAQ rose 0.65% to 10018.72. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.15% to 3,202.26.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 1,979,890 cases with around 112,000 deaths. Brazil confirmed a total of over 739,500 COVID-19 cases with 38,400 deaths, while Russia reported a total of at least 493,020 confirmed cases and 6,350 deaths. In total, there were at least 7,257,510 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 411,680 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares rose by 1.3% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. MGIC, up 7%, and Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. PRTH, up 8%.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares tumbled 2.8%.

Top Headline

United Natural Foods Inc UNFI reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter.

United Natural Foods posted Q3 earnings of $1.40 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.14 per share. The company posted sales of $6.67 billion, in-line with analysts’ expectations.

United Natural Foods said it expects FY20 adjusted earnings of $2.60 to $2.80 per share, versus expectations of $2.16 per share. The company projects sales of $25.2 billion to $25.4 billion, versus analysts’ estimates of $25.16 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Jiayin Group Inc. JFIN shares shot up 647% to $22.03 after gaining 21% on Tuesday. Jiayin Group is expected to release quarterly earnings on June 11.

Shares of American Virtual Cloud Technologies, Inc. AVCT got a boost, shooting 93% to $4.2050.

Curis, Inc. CRIS shares were also up, gaining 173% to $3.3289 after the company announced that the FDA gave clearance for its IND application for CI-8993 monoclonal anti-VISTA antibody.

Equities Trading DOWN

Mmtec, Inc. MTC shares tumbled 57% to $2.89 after rising 22% on Tuesday.

Shares of Immuron Limited IMRN were down 43% to $11.49 as the stock continues to experience volatility. The company said it is not aware of any information that could explain recent trading activity.

Fangdd Network Group Ltd. DUO was down, falling 53% to $22.00 after the company reported Q1 earnings results and issued Q2 sales guidance..

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 0.2% to $38.86, while gold traded up 0.1% to $1,723.50.

Silver traded up 0.9% Wednesday to $17.95, while copper rose 2.2% to $2.655.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.38%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.14%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.86%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 slipped 0.7%, French CAC 40 fell 0.82% and UK shares fell 0.1%.

Economics

The Consumer Price Index fell 0.1% for May, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.1% decline.

U.S. crude inventories gained 5.7 million barrels for the week ended June 5, the Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts expected a drop of 3.2 million barrels. Gasoline supply increased 900,000 barrels last week, while distillate stockpiles rose 1.6 million barrels.

The Federal Open Market Committee is expected to announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET.

The U.S. Treasury budget report for May will be released at 2:00 p.m. ET.

The Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET.