Mid-Day Market Update: Crude Oil Jumps Over 3%; NRx Pharmaceuticals Shares Tumble

U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Dow Jones gaining around 1.5% on Thursday.

The Dow traded up 1.54% to 32,613.65 while the NASDAQ rose 2.38% to 11,706.49. The S&P also rose, gaining, 1.82% to 4,051.29.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer discretionary shares jumped by 4.4% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Baozun Inc. BZUN, up 22% and GameStop Corp. MOD up 29%.

In trading on Thursday, health care shares rose by just 0.2%.

Top Headline

The US economy contracted an annualized 1.5% on quarter during the first three months of the year, compared to initial estimate of a 1.4% drop.

 

Equities Trading UP

SciSparc Ltd. SPRC shares shot up 40% to $3.3117. SciSparc reported Ethics Committee approval to conduct a Phase IIb trial in Tourette Syndrome.

Shares of Apyx Medical Corporation APYX got a boost, shooting 42% to $5.24 after the company received the FDA 510(k) clearance for use of renuvion cosmetic technology in dermal resurfacing procedures.

Modine Manufacturing Company MOD shares were also up, gaining 28% to $11.16 as the company reported fourth-quarter FY22 sales growth of 12% year-on-year, to $574.4 million, beating the consensus of $538.02 million.

Equities Trading DOWN

Avadel Pharmaceuticals plc AVDL shares tumbled 52% to $1.6198 after announcing new FDA request for experimental narcolepsy drug.

Shares of MSP Recovery, Inc. MSPR were down 31% to $2.57. MSP Recovery reaffirmed its sales guidance.

NRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. NRXP was down, falling 61% to $0.5385. Based on the review of approximately 460 patients, the Data Safety and Monitoring Board determined the evaluation of NRx Pharmaceuticals’ Zyesami (aviptadil) should cease due to futility.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 3.7% to $114.38, while gold traded down 0.1% to $1,843.90.

Silver traded up 0.2% to $21.915 on Thursday while copper fell 0.1% to $4.2495.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.78%, London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.56% and Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 1.47%. The German DAX gained 1.59%, French CAC 40 rose 1.78% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 1.22%.

Manufacturing confidence in Italy fell to 109.3 in May, recording the lowest reading since April 2021, while consumer confidence rose to 102.7, from a 17-month low of 100 in April. UK’s car production declined 11.3% from a year ago to 60,554 units in April.

Economics

The US economy contracted an annualized 1.5% on quarter during the first three months of the year, compared to initial estimate of a 1.4% drop.

U.S. initial jobless claims fell by 8 thousand to 210 thousand in the week ended May 21st.

Corporate profits dropped 4.3% to $2.42 trillion in the first quarter.

The pending home sales index fell 3.9% in April.

US natural gas stocks increased by 80 billion cubic feet last week, the EIA said.

The Kansas City Fed’s Manufacturing Production Index declined to 19 in May from 28 a month ago.

The Treasury will auction 7-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

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COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 85,440,340 cases with around 1,030,410 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 43,144,820 cases and 524,520 deaths, while Brazil reported over 30,846,600 COVID-19 cases with 666,110 deaths. In total, there were at least 529,851,290 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,306,520 deaths.