Mid-Day Market Update: Crude Oil Down Over 3%; Office Depot Shares Gain On Upbeat Earnings

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.17 percent to 18,007.18 while the NASDAQ declined 0.48 percent to 5,128.87. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.36 percent to 2,104.18.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Wednesday, non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares gained by 0.33 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Westmoreland Coal Company WLB, and CONSOL Energy Inc. CNX.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell by 1.46 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included FleetCor Technologies, Inc. FLT, down 11 percent, and Resolute Energy Corp REN, down 8 percent.

Top Headline

Broadcom Limited AVGO and Brocade Communications Systems Inc. BRCD disclosed a definitive deal through which the former would acquire the latter for $12.75 a share in cash. This would translate into a valuation of about $5.9 billion, including $0.4 billion of net debt.

The transaction would be immediately accretive to Broadcom's adjusted earnings.

Equities Trading UP

Novocure Ltd NVCR shares shot up 21 percent to $7.20 after the company posted a narrower-than-expected Q3 loss.

Shares of AveXis Inc AVXS got a boost, shooting up 21 percent to $57.95 after the company disclosed a single-arm design for its pivotal study of AVXS-101 in SMA Type 1 patients.

Office Depot Inc ODP shares were also up, gaining 14 percent to $3.48 on better-than-expected quarterly earnings.

Equities Trading DOWN

Adeptus Health Inc ADPT shares dropped 64 percent to $9.71 after the company posted downbeat quarterly results and lowered its FY16 EBITDA outlook.

Shares of Tandem Diabetes Care Inc TNDM were down 62 percent to $2.05 after the company posted downbeat quarterly results.

Cempra Inc CEMP was down, falling around 58 percent to $7.80 after the FDA raised liver safety issues in its review of the company's experimental drug to treat community acquired pneumonia. Baird downgraded Cempra from Outperform to Underperform.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 3.15 percent to $45.20 while gold traded up 1.35 percent to $1,305.40.

Silver traded up 1.34 percent Wednesday to $18.67, while copper fell 0.29 percent to $2.22.

Eurozone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 1.07 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.81 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 2.31 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX slipped 1.46 percent, and the French CAC 40 dropped 1.13 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.96 percent.

Economics

The MBA’s index of mortgage application activity declined 1.2 percent for the week ending October 28, 2016.

Private-sector employers added 147,000 in October, ADP Inc. reported. However, economists were expecting a gain of 165,000 jobs.

Crude supplies increased 14.4 million barrels for the week ended October 28, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. Analysts were expecting a gain of 1.9 million barrels. Gasoline supplies declined 2.2 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles dropped 1.8 million barrels.

The Federal Open Market Committee will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET.