Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Turns Lower; Crude Oil Slides Over 2%

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.12 percent to 17,808.81 while the NASDAQ rose 0.01 percent to 4,844.36. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.04 percent to 2,089.74.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Wednesday, healthcare shares rose by 0.65 percent. Top gainers in the sector included EXACT Sciences Corporation EXAS and Fonar Corporation FONR.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell by 0.18 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included QEP Resources Inc QEP, down 5 percent, and Southwestern Energy Company SWN, down 4 percent.

Top Headline

Tesla Motors Inc TSLA has offered to acquire SolarCity Corp SCTY in an all-stock deal valued at $2.8 billion.

Tesla made an all-stock bid to acquire SolarCity for $26.50-$28.50 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Aspen Aerogels Inc ASPN shares shot up 26 percent to $5.11. BASF SE and Aspen Aerogels reported the expansion of their strategic partnership.

Shares of Carolina Bank Holding Inc. (NC) CLBH got a boost, shooting up 14 percent to $18.21 as First Bancorp FBNC announced plans to buy Carolina Bank in a cash and stock deal valued at $19.26 per share.

Nymox Pharmaceutical Corporation NYMX shares were also up, gaining 21 percent to $2.82 as the company reported long-term prostate cancer results in 7 year prospective study of 995 U.S. middle-aged and elderly men without cancer.

Equities Trading DOWN

Tesla Motors Inc TSLA shares dropped 9 percent to $199.27 as the company offered to acquire SolarCity Corp SCTY in an all-stock deal valued at $2.8 billion.

Shares of Covenant Transportation Group, Inc. CVTI were down 17 percent to $18.13 after the company lowered its Q2 earnings outlook.

Ascent Capital Group Inc ASCMA was down, falling around 12 percent to $15.78. Imperial Capital downgraded Ascent Capital from Outperform to In Line.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 2.29 percent to $48.71 while gold traded down 0.31 percent to $1,268.60.

Silver traded down 0.14 percent Wednesday to $17.30, while copper rose 0.59 percent to $2.13.

Eurozone

European shares closed mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 0.38 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.40 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.62 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.55 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.29 percent, while U.K. shares rose 0.56 percent.

Economics

The MBA reported that its index of mortgage application activity rose 2.9 percent for the week of January 17, 2016.

The FHFA house price index rose 0.2 percent for April, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.6 percent growth.

The Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is scheduled to testify before the House Financial Services Committee in Washington at 10:00 a.m. ET.

U.S. existing-home sales increased 1.8 percent to an annual rate of 5.53 million in May, according to the National Association of Realtors.

U.S. crude supplies declined by 900,000 for the week ended June 17, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were expecting a drop of 1.4 million barrels. Gasoline supplies increased 600,000 barrels, while distillate stockpiles rose by 200,000 barrels last week.