Mid-Day Market Update: Dow Surges 150 Points; Computer Sciences Shares Rise Following Merger Deal with HP Enterprise

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.91 percent to 17,866.78 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.62 percent to 4,891.17. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.76 percent to 2,091.87. Leading and Lagging Sectors Energy shares gained by 1.5 percent in trading on Wednesday. Top gainers in the sector included Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust CHKR, Chesapeake Energy Corporation CHK, and Bristow Group Inc BRS. In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares slipped by 0.4 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. PEG, down 3 percent, and Calpine Corporation CPN, down 3 percent. Top Headline Express, Inc. EXPR reported downbeat earnings for the first quarter and issued a weak forecast. On an adjusted basis, Express would have earned net income of $0.25 per share in the first quarter, up from $0.22 per share in the previous year quarter. However, this is short of analysts' estimations of $0.27 a share. Its net sales of $502.9 million were essentially flat compared to net sales of $502.4 million in the year-ago quarter. Street estimated revenue of $521.10 million for the same period. Its comparable store sales witnessed a drop of three percent including e-com sales. Moving ahead, Express expects earnings of $0.15–$0.19 a share for the second quarter. Analysts expect the company to deliver $0.29 a share. For the full year, the company sees adjusted earnings of $1.41 - $1.54 a share. Street predicts the company to earn $1.66 a share. Equities Trading UP Computer Sciences Corporation CSC shares shot up 34 percent to $47.84 after Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co HPE plans to spin off its enterprise services business, and merge it with Computer Sciences. CSC also reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter on Tuesday. Shares of Sarepta Therapeutics Inc SRPT got a boost, shooting up 18 percent to $21.71 as the company revealed Wednesday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has notified that they were continuing their review in respect of Eteplirsen. Sarepta indicated that the FDA would not be in a position to complete their work by the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) goal date of May 26, 2016. Dycom Industries, Inc. DY shares were also up, gaining 11 percent to $80.24 as the company reported stronger-than-expected results for its third quarter and issued an upbeat forecast for the current quarter. Equities Trading DOWN Timkensteel Corp TMST shares dropped 14 percent to $9.02 as the company priced public offering of $75 million of its 6.00 percent Convertible Senior Notes due 2021. Shares of Express, Inc. EXPR were down 14 percent to $13.71 as the company reported downbeat earnings for the first quarter and issued a weak forecast. Sportsman's Warehouse Holdings Inc SPWH was down, falling around 9 percent to $8.96 as the company reported downbeat Q1 revenue and issued a weak revenue guidance. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded up 1.50 percent to $49.35 while gold traded down 0.62 percent to $1,224.50. Silver traded up 0.59 percent Wednesday to $16.35, while copper rose 1.77 percent to $2.10. Eurozone European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 gained 1.46 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 2.56 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index surged 1.59 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 1.61 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 1.28 percent, while U.K. shares rose 0.78 percent. Economics U.S. trade deficit increased around 3.4 percent to $57.5 billion in April, compared to a deficit of $55.6 billion in March. The Markit services PMI slipped to 51.20 for May, versus a prior reading of 52.80. However, economists were expecting a reading of 53.10. U.S. crude supplies declined 4.2 million barrels for the week ended May 20, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. Analysts were projecting a drop of 3.3 million barrels. Gasoline supplies rose 2 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles slipped 1.3 million barrels last week.