Mid-Day Market Update: Ocular Therapeutix Drops After Major Setback In Dextenza; I.D. Systems Shares Surge

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.67 percent to 21,553.29 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.83 percent to 6,244.87. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.67 percent to 2,441.84.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares rose by 1.18 percent in the US market on Wednesday. Top gainers in the sector included Microvision, Inc. MVIS, and ACI Worldwide Inc ACIW.

In trading on Wednesday, financial shares rose by just 0.5 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. PEBK, down 3 percent, and Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC OZM, down 2 percent.

Top Headline

Fastenal Company FAST posted stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter.

Fastenal posted quarterly earnings of $0.52 per share on revenue of $1.122 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.50 per share on sales of $1.11 billion.

Equities Trading UP

I.D. Systems, Inc. IDSY shares shot up 15 percent to $6.40. I.D. Systems priced 2.6 million share offering at $5.75 per share and announced plans to buy Keytroller for $9 million.

Shares of Nam Tai Property Inc. NTP got a boost, shooting up 22 percent to $9.95. Kaisa Group Holdings reported a 17.7 percent stake in Nam Tai Property.

NRG Energy Inc NRG shares were also up, gaining 19 percent to $19.33 after the company reported launch of transformation plan targeting $2.5 billion to $4 billion targeted asset sale net cash proceeds plus removal of $13 billion debt. NRG Energy also raised its FY17 outlook.

Equities Trading DOWN

Ocular Therapeutix Inc OCUL shares dropped 18 percent to $6.20 after the biopharmaceutical company confirmed a major setback for its eye drug Dextenza, a therapy used for the treatment of ocular pain following ophthalmic surgery. Ocular confirmed in a press release after Tuesday's close it has received a Complete Response Letter (CRL) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration relating to its re-submission of a New Drug Application (CRL) for Dextenza. The CRL states that the FDA can't approve the company's NDA in its present form.

Shares of Alder Biopharmaceuticals Inc ALDR were down 13 percent to $10.60. Alder BioPharmaceuticals announced intent to offer 12.5 million shares.

MSC Industrial Direct Co Inc MSM was down, falling around 15 percent to $74.14. MSC Industrial Direct reported in-line profit for its third quarter, but issued weak earnings forecast for the current quarter.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.07 percent to $45.52 while gold traded up 0.46 percent to $1,220.30.

Silver traded up 1.21 percent Wednesday to $15.935, while copper rose 0.47 percent to $2.6845.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 1.70 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.20 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 1.87 percent while U.K. shares rose 1.11 percent.

Economics

Domestic crude supplies slipped 7.6 million barrels for the week ended July 7, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were expecting a drop of 2.6 million barrels. Gasoline stockpiles dropped 1.6 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles rose 3.1 million barrels last week.

The Treasury will auction 10-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

The Federal Open Market Committee will release Beige book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank President Esther George is set to speak in Denver at 2:15 p.m. ET.