Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Verizon Posts Upbeat Earnings

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.35% to 35,580.21 while the NASDAQ rose 0.11% to 15,146.02. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.32% to 4,533.97.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 45,996,500 cases with around 748,650 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 34,108,990 cases and 452,680 deaths, while Brazil reported over 21,664,870 COVID-19 cases with 603,900 deaths. In total, there were at least 242,448,790 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 4,931,290 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares gained by 1.4% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Companhia Energética de Minas Gerais CIG, up 2% and Empresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora Norte Sociedad Anónima EDN up 3%.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell 0.4%.

Top Headline

Verizon Communications Inc. VZ reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter and raised its FY21 forecast.

Verizon reported quarterly earnings of $1.41 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.36 per share. The company reported quarterly revenue of $32.90 billion, versus analysts’ estimates of $33.28 billion.

Verizon raised its FY21 adjusted EPS guidance from $5.25-$5.35 to $5.35-$5.40.

Equities Trading UP

Radius Health, Inc. RDUS shares shot up 37% to $21.11. The Menarini Group and Radius Health announced topline results from the EMERALD Phase 3 study evaluating elacestrant as second- or third-line monotherapy in ER+/HER2- advanced/metastatic breast cancer patients.

Shares of Puhui Wealth Investment Management Co., Ltd. PHCF got a boost, shooting 29% to $2.6111.

First Wave BioPharma, Inc. FWBI shares were also up, gaining 18% to $3.30. First Wave BioPharma recently reported FDA clearance of IND application for Phase 2a PASSPORT trial of FW-ICI-AC as treatment for immune checkpoint inhibitor-associated colitis.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

ATI Physical Therapy, Inc. ATIP shares tumbled 19% to $2.9500 after the company reported preliminary Q3 revenue of approximately $159 million, well below the consensus of $170.42 million.

Shares of Kaival Brands Innovations Group, Inc. KAVL were down 17% to $1.87 after jumping around 40% on Tuesday

HCW Biologics Inc. HCWB was down, falling 14% to $2.78 after gaining 13% on Tuesday.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.2% to $82.00, while gold traded up 0.5% to $1,779.90.

Silver traded up 0.6% Wednesday to $24.02 while copper fell 1.3% to $4.6435.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.1%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.3% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.1%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.1%, French CAC 40 slipped 0.1% and Italy’s FTSE MIB gained 0.5%.

The annual inflation rate in the Eurozone was confirmed at 3.4% in September, while current account surplus shrank to EUR 17.6 billion in August from EUR 24.9 billion.

The annual inflation rate in the UK fell to 3.1% in September from a nine-year high level of 3.2% in August, while annual rate of output inflation rose to 6.7% in September. German producer prices rose by 14.2% from a year ago in September. Italy’s current account surplus shrank to EUR 5.03 billion in August from EUR 6.99 billion in the year-ago month.

Economics

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari is set to speak at 12:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic will speak at 12:00 p.m. ET.

Chicago Fed President Charles Evans is set to speak at 12:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Governor Randal Quarles will speak at 1:00 p.m. ET.

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

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard is set to speak at 1:45 p.m. ET.

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

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly will speak at 8:35 p.m. ET.

Check out the full economic calendar here