Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Jumps 250 Points; Netflix Shares Slide

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.75% to 34,073.66 while the NASDAQ rose 0.70% to 13,882.45. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.64% to 4,161.25.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 31,793,500 cases with around 568,470 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 15,616,130 cases and 182,550 deaths, while Brazil reported over 14,043,070 COVID-19 cases with 378,000 deaths. In total, there were at least 143,022,870 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 3,046,430 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Materials shares rose 1.6% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Sierra Metals Inc. SMTS, up 12%, and GoldMining Inc. GLDG, up 12%.

In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares fell 0.9%.

Top Headline

Verizon Communications Inc. VZ reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter.

Verizon reported quarterly earnings of $1.31 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.29 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $32.90 billion, versus expectations of $32.46 billion.

Verizon said it sees FY21 adjusted EPS of $5.00-$5.15, versus analysts’ estimates of $5.08.

Equities Trading UP

Welbilt, Inc. WBT shares shot up 41% to $22.09 after The Middleby Corp announced plans to acquire the company.

Shares of Acme United Corporation ACU got a boost, shooting 14% to $43.34. Acme United recently reported better-than-expected Q1 sales.

Cassava Sciences, Inc. SAVA shares were also up, gaining 8% to $34.61 following Q1 earnings.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Digital Ally, Inc. DGLY shares tumbled 13% to $1.68. Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted Tuesday of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man whose neck Chauvin kneeled on for more than nine minutes during an arrest last May despite Floyd’s cries of “I can’t breathe!”

Shares of Unique Fabricating, Inc. UFAB were down 22% to $3.9299 after the company swung to a loss in the fourth quarter.

Netflix, Inc. NFLX was down, falling 7% to $511.80. Netflix reported better-than-expected earnings and sales results for its first quarter. However, the company said it finished the quarter with 208 million paid memberships, up 14% year over year but below the company forecast of 210 million.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.8% to $61.33, while gold traded up 0.8% to $1,793.30.

Silver traded up 2.8% Wednesday to $26.575 while copper rose 1.6% to $4.2795.

Euro zone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.65%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.71% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.44%. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 rose 0.74% London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.52% and Italy’s FTSE MIB gained 0.30%.

Annual inflation rate in the UK rose to 0.7% in March from 0.4% in February, while producer prices rose 1.9% year-over-year in March.

Economics

US crude oil inventories increased 0.594 million barrels in the April 16th week, compared to a 5.889 million drop in the earlier period, the Energy Information Administration said.

The Treasury is set to auction 20-year bonds at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Check out the full economic calendar here