Mid-Day Market Update: Dow Surges Over 100 Points; Coty Shares Slide

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.73 percent to 18,467.27 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.64 percent to 5,226.69. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.59 percent to 2,152.13.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Wednesday, healthcare shares gained by 3.13 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. SCMP, and Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ARIA.

In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares fell by 1.54 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included NextEra Energy Inc NEE, down 5 percent, and Companhia Paranaense de Energia (ADR) ELP, down 4 percent.

Top Headline

Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump has won the 2016 Presidential election in a hotly-contested vote against Hillary Clinton that few saw coming. To the surprise of many, Trump won big from Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania en route to getting the necessary 270 electoral votes.

With his win in the U.S. presidential election, Trump is uniquely positioned to overhaul America’s relationship with Russia. But how Moscow will engage with the president-elect is still far from clear

Equities Trading UP

Corrections Corp Of America CXW shares shot up 41 percent to $19.97. Prison shares are trading significantly higher after the victory of Donald Trump.

Shares of Foresight Energy LP FELP got a boost, shooting up 24 percent to $7.08. Foresight Energy reported a Q3 loss of $24.3 million on revenue of $230.8 million.

Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. SCMP shares were also up, gaining 29 percent to $14.65 after the company reported better-than-expected Q3 results and raised its FY 2016 guidance.

Equities Trading DOWN

AgroFresh Solutions Inc AGFS shares dropped 38 percent to $2.91. AgroFresh posted Q3 earnings of $0.15 per share on revenue of $61.2 million.

Shares of Tenet Healthcare Corp THC were down 24 percent to $15.50. Bank of America downgraded Tenet Healthcare from Buy to Neutral and lowered the price target from $32.00 to $25.00.

Coty Inc COTY was down, falling around 11 percent to $19.52 after the company delivered downbeat quarterly earnings.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.65 percent to $45.72 while gold traded up 0.58 percent to $1,281.90.

Silver traded up 1.63 percent Wednesday to $18.66, while copper rose 3.11 percent to $2.45.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 1.46 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index dropped 0.40 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.10 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 1.56 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 1.49 percent while U.K. shares rose 1 percent.

Economics

The MBA’s index of mortgage application activity dropped 1.2 percent for the week ended November 4, 2016.

Domestic crude supplies increased by 2.4 million barrels for the week ended November 4, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. Analysts were expecting a gain of 1.6 million barrels. Gasoline supplies dropped 2.8 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles slipped 1.9 million barrels.

The Treasury is set to auction 10-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari is set to speak in Eau Claire, Wi. at 1:30 p.m. ET.

San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams will speak at the University of San Francisco at 9:00 p.m. ET.