Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Crude Oil Up 2%; Pitney Bowes Shares Drop After Downbeat Earnings

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.22 percent to 19,906.85 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.51 percent to 5,643.60. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.08 percent to 2,280.73.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Technology shares rose by 0.75 percent in trading on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Overstock.com, Inc. OSTK, and Acxiom Corporation ACXM.

In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares slipped by 0.51 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Dominion Resources, Inc. D, down 5 percent, and MDU Resources Group Inc MDU, down 5 percent.

Top Headline

Apple Inc. AAPL reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter on Tuesday.

Apple reported Q1 EPS of $3.36, beating analysts’ expectations by $0.12. However, revenue came in at $78.4 billion, beating estimates by $20 million.

iPhone sales in the quarter rose to 78.3 million, versus 74.8 million in the year-ago quarter.

Equities Trading UP

Oneok Partners LP OKS shares shot up 22 percent to $52.61. ONEOK, Inc. OKE announced plans to acquire outstanding shares of Oneok Partners for $9.3 billion in stock.

Shares of Social Reality Inc SRAX got a boost, shooting up 14 percent to $3.25. Chardan Capital initiated coverage of Social Reality with a Buy rating.

Acxiom Corporation ACXM shares were also up, gaining 11 percent to $29.08 after the company posted upbeat quarterly results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Catabasis Pharmaceuticals Inc CATB shares dropped 71 percent to $1.18 after the company reported top-line results for Part B of MoveDMD trial for CAT-1004 in DMD. The company disclosed that primary efficacy endpoint was not met.

Shares of Pitney Bowes Inc. PBI were down around 18 percent to $13.09 after the company reported weak Q4 results and lowered its FY17 outlook.

Galena Biopharma Inc GALE was down, falling around 22 percent to $1.29. Galena Biopharma reported the resignation of its President and CEO and announced plans to evaluate strategic alternatives for the company.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2 percent to $53.88 while gold traded down 0.08 percent to $1,210.40.

Silver traded down 0.25 percent Wednesday to $17.50, while copper fell 0.44 percent to $2.72.

Eurozone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 0.86 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.17 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 0.81 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 1.08 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.96 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.12 percent.

Economics

Private-sector employers added 246,000 jobs in January, ADP reported. However, economists were expecting a gain of 165,000 jobs.

The Markit manufacturing PMI slipped to 55.00 in January, versus a prior reading of 55.10. Economists projected a reading of 55.10.

The ISM manufacturing index rose to 56.00 for January, versus a previous reading of 54.70. Economists were expecting a reading of 55.00.

U.S. construction spending declined 0.20 percent in December, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.20 percent growth.

Crude oil supplies rose 6.5 million barrels for the week ended January 27, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported Wednesday. Analysts projected a gain of 2.2 million barrels.

The Federal Open Market Committee announced its policy decision. The Federal Reserve maintained interest rates in a range of 0.50 percent to 0.75 percent.