Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Badger Meter Falls On Earnings Miss; Seadrill Shares Surge

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.03 percent to 24,780.11 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.41 percent to 7,310.57. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.27 percent to 2,713.72.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Wednesday afternoon, the energy shares climbed 1.59 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included SeaDrill Limited SDRL, up 77 percent, and EP Energy Corporation EPE, up 19 percent.

In trading on Wednesday, information technology shares fell 0.35 percent.

Top Headline

Morgan Stanley MS reported better-than-expected profit for its first quarter.

The bank said it earned $1.45 per share in the first quarter on revenue of $11.08 billion versus expectations of $1.25 per share on revenue of $10.36 billion.

Equities Trading UP

IZEA, Inc. IZEA shares shot up 28 percent to $2.81. IZEA posted a Q4 net loss of $743,000 on sales of $6.8 million.

Shares of Seadrill Limited SDRL got a boost, shooting up 77 percent to $0.3935. On Tuesday, a U.S. court approved the company's plan to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy that includes raising around $1 billion in new debt and equity through a rights offering which will be led by its biggest shareholder.

Teligent, Inc. TLGT shares were also up, gaining 18 percent to $3.56 following the FDA approval of Clobetasol Propionate Cream USP, 0.05%.

Equities Trading DOWN

Dynagas LNG Partners LP DLNG shares dropped 12 percent to $9.33 after the company lowered its quarterly distribution to $0.25 per common unit from $0.4225 per common unit.

Shares of International Business Machines Corporation IBM were down 8 percent to $148.75 despite reporting a first quarter earnings beat. The company reaffirmed its FY18 outlook of EPS of at least $13.80 and free cash flow of $12 billion.

Badger Meter, Inc. BMI was down, falling around 8 percent to $42.45 after reporting downbeat quarterly results.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2 percent to $67.85 while gold traded up 0.33 percent to $1,354.00.

Silver traded up 2.58 percent Wednesday to $17.22, while copper rose 2.38 percent to $3.177.

Eurozone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.29 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.54 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.47 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX rose 0.04 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.50 percent while U.K. shares rose 1.26 percent.

Economics

Crude supplies slipped 1.07 million barrels for the week ended April 13, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. Analysts projected a decline of 500,000 barrels. Gasoline stockpiles dropped 2.97 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles declined 3.11 million barrels for the week.

The Federal Reserve released its latest Beige Book report.

New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley will speak in New York at 3:15 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman for Supervision Governor Randal Quarles is set to speak in Washington at 4:15 p.m. ET.