Nasdaq Surges Over 300 Points; Moderna Earnings Beat Expectations

U.S. stocks traded higher toward the end of trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining more than 300 points on Wednesday.

The Dow traded up 1.35% to 32,832.23 while the NASDAQ rose 2.55% to 12,664.26. The S&P also rose, gaining, 1.63% to 4,157.90.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares climbed 2.7% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. EGLX, up 13% and Globalstar, Inc. GSAT up 13%.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell 3.2%.

Top Headline

Moderna Inc MRNA reported better-than-expected earnings for its second quarter on Wednesday.

Moderna reported a Q2 EPS of $5.24, compared to the $6.46 posted a year ago, beating the consensus estimate of $4.59. Revenue was $4.75 billion compared to $4.34 million a year ago, beating the consensus of $4.07 billion.

Moderna has authorized an additional share repurchase program for $3 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Poseida Therapeutics, Inc. PSTX shares shot up 71% to $4.1655 as the company entered into a strategic collaboration and license agreement with Roche Holdings AG, focused on developing allogeneic CAR-T therapies directed to hematologic malignancies.

Shares of Kintara Therapeutics, Inc. KTRA got a boost, shooting 45% to $0.2566 after the company entered into an equity purchase agreement with Lincoln Park Capital for up to $20 million.

Ping Identity Holding Corp. PING shares were also up, gaining 60% to $27.98 after the company announced it will be acquired by Thoma Bravo for $28.50 per share in cash. Ping Identity also posted a Q2 loss of $0.34 per share.

Equities Trading DOWN

Rocky Brands, Inc. RCKY shares tumbled 21% to $27.00 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q2 EPS results.

Shares of Horizon Therapeutics Public Limited Company HZNP were down 21% to $64.82 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q2 EPS and sales results and lowered FY22 sales guidance below estimates.

SolarEdge Technologies, Inc. SEDG was down, falling 17% to $302.33 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q2 EPS.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 3.2% to $91.38, while gold traded down 0.8% to $1,775.80.

Silver traded down 1.1% to $19.925 on Wednesday while copper fell 1.6% to $3.4640.

Euro zone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.51%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.49% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.56%. The German DAX climbed 1.03%, French CAC 40 surged 0.97% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 1%.

The annual producer inflation in the Eurozone dropped to 35.8% in June from 36.2% in May, while retail sales fell 1.2% month-over-month in June. Producer prices in the Eurozone increased 1.1% month-over-month in June, while services PMI was revised higher to 51.2 in July from a preliminary reading of 50.6.

The S&P Global Italy Composite PMI dropped to 47.7 in July from 51.3 in the previous month, while UK’s Composite PMI fell to 52.1 in July from 53.7 in June. The S&P Global French Composite PMI slipped to 51.7 in July from 52.5 a month ago, while German Composite PMI rose slightly to 48.1 in July from a preliminary level of 48. Germany reported a trade surplus of €7.7 billion in June.

Economics

 

The S&P Global services PMI was revised higher to 47.3 in July versus a preliminary level of 47.

U.S. factory orders rose 2% month-over-month in June.

The ISM Services PMI unexpectedly rose to 56.7 in July, recording the highest level in three months, compared to June’s reading of 55.3. However, analysts were expecting a reading of 53.5.

US crude oil inventories increased by 4.467 million barrels in the week ended July 29th. Analysts, meanwhile, were projecting for a 0.629-million-barrel decline.

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COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 93,319,700 cases with around 1,055,970 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,067,140 cases and 526,470 deaths, while France reported over 33,921,340 COVID-19 cases with 152,280 deaths. In total, there were at least 584,458,570 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,424,210 deaths.