Mid-Day Market Update: Crude Oil Down Over 2%; Simulations Plus Shares Plunge

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.64 percent to 24,760.26 while the NASDAQ declined 0.41 percent to 7,727.73. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.52 percent to 2,779.25.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Wednesday, the utilities shares climbed 0.34 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Centrais Elétricas Brasileiras S.A. - Eletrobras EBR up 4 percent, and Genie Energy Ltd. GNE up 4 percent.

In trading on Wednesday, materials shares fell 1.57 percent.

Top Headline

Fastenal Company FAST reported upbeat earnings for its second quarter on Wednesday.

Fastenal posted Q2 profit of $0.74 per share on revenue of $1.268 billion. However, analysts expected earnings of $0.66 per share on sales of $1.26 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. ACHV shares shot up 27 percent to $4.5799 as the clinical-stage biotech moves one step closer to filing a New Drug Application for its smoking cessation pipeline candidate cytisine. After a meeting with the FDA regarding both clinical and non-clinical development plans for cytisine, Achieve Life Sciences said the Phase 3 clinical program as well as a future NDA filing are further defined.

Shares of Myriad Genetics, Inc. MYGN got a boost, shooting up 15 percent to $43.60. Morgan Stanley upgraded Myriad Genetics from Equal-Weight to Overweight and raised the price target from $35 to $55.

Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc. AST shares were also up, gaining 13 percent to $1.750 after the Safety Review Committee recommended proceeding as planned with AST-VAC2 clinical trials.

Equities Trading DOWN

ReShape Lifesciences Inc. RSLS shares dropped 19 percent to $1.656. ReShape Lifesciences reported a $2.7 million registered direct offering priced at-the-market.

Shares of Simulations Plus, Inc. SLP were down 21 percent to $18.00. Simulations Plus posted Q3 earnings of $0.13 per share on sales of $8.553 million.

Vicon Industries, Inc. VII was down, falling around 27 percent to $0.20. The company disclosed that it will not submit compliance plan to NYSE and will begin trading on OTCQB Venture Market on July 12.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 2.38 percent to $72.36 while gold traded down 0.72 percent to $1,246.30.

Silver traded down 1.47 percent Wednesday to $15.85, while copper fell 3.36 to $2.744.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 tumbled 1.26 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.57 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 1.58 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX slipped 1.53 percent, and the French CAC 40 dropped 1.48 percent while U.K. shares fell 1.3 percent.

Economics

The Producer Price Index rose 0.3 percent for June, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.2 percent increase.

U.S. wholesale inventories increased 0.6 percent for May, versus economists’ estimates for a 0.5 percent gain.

Domestic crude supplies dropped 12.6 million barrels for the week ended July 6, the Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts projected a decline of 4.8 million barrels. Gasoline stockpiles slipped 700,000 barrels, while distillate stockpiles gained 4.1 million barrels for the week.

New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams is set to speak in Brooklyn, NY at 4:30 p.m. ET.