Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Climbs 450 Points; American Eagle Outfitters Shares Slide

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 1.97% to 23,472.24 while the NASDAQ rose 2.73% to 8488.80. The S&P also rose, gaining 2.22% to 2,797.34.

The U.S. is the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic with the highest number of cases and deaths around the world. U.S. reported a total of 825,300 coronavirus cases with around 45,070 deaths. Spain confirmed a total of over 208,380 coronavirus cases with 21,710 deaths, while Italy reported a total of at least 183,950 confirmed cases and 24,640 deaths. In total, there were at least 2,585,460 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 178,840 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares climbed 3.2% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Akoustis Technologies, Inc. AKTS, up 14%, and Manhattan Associates, Inc. MANH, up 12%.

In trading on Wednesday, consumer staples shares rose by just 0.8%.

Top Headline

Kimberly-Clark Corp KMB reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter.

Kimberly-Clark posted quarterly earnings of $2.13 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.96 per share. Its sales came in at $5.00 billion, versus expectations of $4.88 billion.


Equities Trading UP

The Peck Company Holdings, Inc. PECK shares shot up 65% to $5.78 after the company announced it would align capital for the construction of new solar projects with GreenBond Advisors from Green Bond Partnership.

Shares of SAExploration Holdings, Inc. SAEX got a boost, shooting 109% to $2.34 after the company disclosed a new project in Greece.

Delek Logistics Partners, LP DKL shares were also up, gaining 52% to $13.38. Delek Logistics Partners increased its quarterly dividend to $0.89 per share.


Equities Trading DOWN

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. AEO shares tumbled 16% to $6.97 after the company suspended its buyback program and deferred payment of its Q1 dividend.

Shares of Actinium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ATNM were down 24% to $0.1790. Actinium Pharmaceuticals priced its 183 million share public offering at $0.15 per share.

VBI Vaccines Inc. VBIV was down, falling 28% to $1.1250. VBI Vaccines priced its 45.45 million share offering at $1.10 per share.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 24.3% to $14.38, while gold traded up 2.9% to $1,736.00.

Silver traded up 2.9% Wednesday to $15.30, while copper rose 2.5% to $2.2855.

Euro zone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 1.8%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.28%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 1.91%. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 1.6%, and the French CAC 40 rose 1.25% while UK shares rose 2.3%.


Economics

The FHFA house price index climbed increased 0.7% in February, versus a revised 0.5% rise in January.

U.S. crude supplies climbed 15 million barrels for the week ended April 17, the Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were estimating a gain of 12.9 million barrels. Gasoline supplies surged 1 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles increased 7.9 million barrels last week.

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Comments
Loading...
Date
ticker
name
Actual EPS
EPS Surprise
Actual Rev
Rev Surprise
Posted In: EarningsNewsEurozoneCommoditiesGlobalIntraday UpdateMarketsApplication SoftwareInformation TechnologyMid-Afternoon Market Update
Benzinga simplifies the market for smarter investing

Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.

Join Now: Free!