Mid-Day Market Update: Crude Oil Rises 2%; Protalix BioTherapeutics Shares Plunge

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.33% to 33,874.02 while the NASDAQ fell 0.07% to 14,079.66. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.15% to 4,193.17.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 32,176,050 cases with around 573,380 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 17,997,110 cases and 201,180 deaths, while Brazil reported over 14,441,560 COVID-19 cases with 395,020 deaths. In total, there were at least 148,763,560 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 3,136,870 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.


Leading and Lagging Sectors


Energy shares climbed by 3.5% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Nabors Industries Ltd. NBR, up 8%, and Oceaneering International, Inc. OII, up 7%.


In trading on Wednesday, information technology shares fell 0.9%.


Top Headline

Google parent company Alphabet Inc GOOGGOOGL reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter on Tuesday.

Alphabet reported revenue of $55.3 billion in the first quarter, beating estimates of $51.7 billion. Earnings per share of $26.29 beat estimates of $15.88.


Equities Trading UP


Aurora Mobile Limited JG shares shot up 16% to $4.0838 after Oppenheimer initiated coverage on the stock with an Outperform rating and a price target of $6 per share.


Shares of Creatd, Inc. CRTD got a boost, shooting 18% to $4.3947 after the company reported strategic investment in Untamed Photographer, NFT Collaboration, and Vocal Community and Challenge Sponsorships.


Uxin Limited UXIN shares were also up, gaining 33% to $2.70 after the company reported Q3 earnings results.

Check out these big movers of the day


Equities Trading DOWN

Protalix BioTherapeutics, Inc. PLX shares tumbled 41% to $3.4550. Protalix BioTherapeutics and partner Chiesi announced that they received a complete response letter from the FDA regarding the biologics license application, seeking accelerated approval of pegunigalsidase alfa for the proposed treatment of adult patients with Fabry disease.

  • Massive Demand & Disruptive Potential – Boxabl has received interest for over 190,000 homes, positioning itself as a major disruptor in the housing market.
  • Revolutionary Manufacturing Approach – Inspired by Henry Ford’s assembly line, Boxabl’s foldable tiny homes are designed for high-efficiency production, making homeownership more accessible.
  • Affordable Investment Opportunity – With homes priced at $60,000, Boxabl is raising $1 billion to scale production, offering investors a chance to own a stake in its growth.
Share Price: $0.80
Min. Investment: $1,000
Valuation: $3.5B

Shares of Urban Tea, Inc. MYT were down 38% to $2.8694 after the company reported pricing of approximately $25million registered direct offering.

Benitec Biopharma Inc. BNTC was down, falling 24% to $4.15 after the company reported that, due to demand, the underwriter has agreed to increase the size of the previously announced offering of 3.036 million shares of common stock at a price of $4.25 per share, for raising gross proceeds of $12.9 million.


Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 2.1% to $64.26, while gold traded down 0.4% to $1,772.10.


Silver traded down 1.6% Wednesday to $25.98 while copper fell 0.3% to $4.4750.


Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.16%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.48% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.54%. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 climbed 0.64% London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.48% and Italy’s FTSE MIB rose 0.19%.

French consumer confidence came in unchanged at 94 in April. The Swiss investor sentiment index increased by 1.6 points to an all-time high of 68.3 in April.


Economics


US goods deficit widened to $90.59 billion in March from $87.1 billion in February. Exports increased 8.7% to $130.7 billion, while imports rose 6.8% to $232.6 billion.


US wholesale inventories rose 1.4% for March.


US crude oil inventories rose 100,000 barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said.


The Federal Open Market Committee will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET.


The Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Check out the full economic calendar here

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