Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Tumbles Over 100 Points; Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Shares Jump

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.45% to 28550.31 while the NASDAQ fell 0.75% to 11775.45. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.56% to 3,492.39.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 7,859,360 cases with around 215,910 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 7,239,380 confirmed cases and 110,580 deaths, while Brazil reported over 5,113,620 COVID-19 cases with 150,990 deaths. In total, there were at least 38,195,650 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 1,087,340 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares rose 1.1% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Concho Resources Inc. CXO, up 12%, and Centennial Resource Development, Inc. CDEV, up 11%.

In trading on Wednesday, consumer discretionary shares fell 1.2%.

Top Headline

Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter.

Goldman Sachs reported quarterly earnings of $9.68 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $5.57 per share. The company posted sales of $10.78 billion, surpassing expectations of $9.46 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Novan, Inc. NOVN shares shot up 28% to $0.5907 after the company announced in vitro results showing the effect of NITRICIL against Covid-19.

Shares of Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc. MDRX got a boost, shooting 30% to $10.77 after the company agreed to sell its CarePort Health business to WellSky for $1.35 billion.

AnaptysBio, Inc. ANAB shares were also up, gaining 14% to $20.24 after Guggenheim upgraded the stock from Neutral to Buy and announced a price target of $36 per share. AnaptysBio yesterday reported positive topline data from GALLOP Phase 2 clinical trial of imsidolimab in moderate-to-severe generalized pustular psoriasis.

 

Equities Trading DOWN

Cyclerion Therapeutics, Inc. CYCN shares tumbled 53% to $3.3250 following a couple of clinical trial updates from the company. Cyclerion said its mid-stage investigational asset olinciguat did not show adequate activity to support further internal clinical development of it as a potential treatment for sickle cell disease. Separately, the company announced positive results from a Phase 1 translational pharmacology study of IW-6463, a soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator being developed for CNS disorders.

Shares of Enzo Biochem, Inc. ENZ were down 16% to $2.18. Enzo Biochem reported fourth-quarter revenues of $19.5 million, down 6.6% year-over-year, while on a GAAP basis, the net loss narrowed from 11 cents per share to 7 cents per share.

AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. AMC was down, falling 18% to $2.9101 The world’s biggest chain of theaters - AMC Entertainment is mulling options for respite from debt, that includes potential bankruptcy, Bloomberg reported.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.9% to $40.96, while gold traded up 0.7% to $1,907.30.

Silver traded up 1.1% Wednesday to $24.405 while copper rose 0.3% to $3.0520.

Euro zone

European shares closed mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.09%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.6%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.25%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 gained 0.07%, French CAC 40 slipped 0.12% and London’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.58%.

Consumer prices in Spain fell 0.4% year-over-year in September after declining 0.5% in the previous month.

Economics

The Producer Price Index rose 0.4% for September, versus analysts’ expectations for a 0.2% increase.

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan will speak at 6:00 p.m. ET.