Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Gains 80 Points; Osmotica Pharmaceuticals Shares Plummet

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.27% to 30,416.16 while the NASDAQ rose 0.29% to 12,886.98. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.17% to 3,733.30.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 19,515,520 cases with around 338,650 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 10,244,850 confirmed cases and 148,430 deaths, while Brazil reported over 7,563,550 COVID-19 cases with 192,680 deaths. In total, there were at least 82,073,260 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 1,792,580 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed 1.4% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included California Resources Corporation CRC, up 11%, and Earthstone Energy, Inc. ESTE, up 9%.

In trading on Wednesday, communication services shares fell 0.7%.

Top Headline

The COVID-19 vaccine co-developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca plc AZN received the UK approval for emergency supply on Wednesday.

The U.K health department accepted the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) recommendation to authorize AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, which showed efficacy between 70% and 90%.

Equities Trading UP

Bionano Genomics, Inc. BNGO shares shot up 72% to $2.29. Bionano Genomics was granted a 180-day extension by the Nasdaq to regain compliance with bid price rule. The company’s stock added over 50% on Tuesday. Bionano, on Monday, announced its customer, Praxis Genomics, was accredited by College Of American Pathologists.

Shares of Hepion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. HEPA got a boost, shooting 15% to $2.3899 after the company announced topline data from the low-dose cohort in the Phase 2a AMBITION clinical trial of CRV431 in NASH patients with evidence of moderate-to-severe fibrosis, showing CRV431 was generally safe and well-tolerated.

Net Element, Inc. NETE shares were also up, gaining 60% to $18.03 after the company's merger partner, Mullen Technologies, received a letter of intent for a purchase order of 1,500 MX-05 electric vehicles.

Equities Trading DOWN

B.O.S. Better Online Solutions Ltd. BOSC shares tumbled 20% to $2.28 after the company reported a $2 million common stock offering.

Shares of China Finance Online Co. Limited JRJC were down 22% to $8.53 following Q3 results. China Finance Online reported a Q3 loss of $0.66 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $0.91 per share. Its net revenue climbed to $10.7 million from $8.1 million.

Osmotica Pharmaceuticals plc OSMT was down, falling 20% to $4.2350 as the company said the FDA issued a complete response letter for its NDA seeking approval for the investigational agent arbaclofen extended release tablets to treat spasticity resulting from multiple sclerosis. The FDA made a number of recommendations, including that the company conduct a new study in order to provide substantial evidence of efficacy of arbaclofen, Osmotica said.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.7% to $48.35, while gold traded up 0.6% to $1,894.90.

Silver traded up 1.6% Wednesday to $26.645 while copper fell 0.1% to $3.551.

Euro zone

European shares closed lower today. AstraZeneca plc AZN disclosed that its COVID-19 vaccine has received approval in the United Kingdom for emergency use. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.34%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.25% and German DAX 30 declined 0.31%. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 slipped 0.22%, London’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.71% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.12%.

Economics

The US goods trade deficit increased to $84.82 billion in November versus $80.42 billion in the prior month, the advance estimate showed.

Wholesale inventories declined 0.1% in November versus a revised 1.2% increase in October.

The Chicago PMI rose 1.3 points to a reading of 59.5 in December.

US pending home sales fell 2.6% in November.

US crude oil inventories dropped 6.1 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said.

Data on farm prices for November will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.