Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Rises Over 200 Points; Command Security Shares Jump On Acquisition News

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.79 percent to 26,453.77 while the NASDAQ declined 0.16 percent to 7,943.22. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.17 percent to 2,909.14.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Wednesday afternoon, the financial shares rose 1.88 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Grupo Supervielle S.A. SUPV up 9 percent, and BBVA Banco Francés S.A. BFR up 14 percent.

In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares fell 2.43 percent.


Top Headline

Copart, Inc. CPRT reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.

Copart posted quarterly earnings of $0.42 per share on sales of $449.2 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.48 per share on sales of $443.72 million.

 

Equities Trading UP

Molecular Templates, Inc. MTEM shares shot up 58 percent to $6.48 after the company announced an agreement with Takeda for joint development of CD38-targeted ETB for multiple myeloma treatment.

Shares of Altimmune, Inc. ALT got a boost, shooting up 266 percent to $15.6298.

Command Security Corporation MOC shares were also up, gaining 47 percent to $2.79 after the company agreed to be acquired by Prosegur for $2.85 per share.


Equities Trading DOWN

Copart, Inc. CPRT shares dropped 15 percent to $54.89 after the company reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.

Shares of Realm Therapeutics Plc RLM were down 29 percent to $4.814.

Vital Therapies Inc VTL was down, falling around 22 percent to $0.333.


Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 1.6 percent to $70.97 while gold traded up 0.42 percent to $1,207.90.

Silver traded up 0.60 percent Wednesday to $14.27, while copper fell 0.20 to $2.725.



Eurozone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.33 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.41 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.25 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.5 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.56 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.42 percent.

Economics

Housing starts rose 9.2 percent at an annual rate of 1.282 million in August.

The U.S. current-account deficit declined 17 percent to $101.5 billion in the second quarter, versus a revised $121.7 billion for the first quarter.

Domestic crude supplies dropped 2.06 million barrels for the week ended September 14, the Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were expecting a decline of 2.74 million barrels. Gasoline stockpiles slipped 1.72 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles gained 839,000 barrels for the week.

Posted In: NewsEurozoneCommoditiesGlobalIntraday UpdateMarketsMid-Afternoon Market Update
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