Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Crude Oil Down Over 4%; CalAmp Shares Surge After Strong Q4 Results

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.41 percent to 20,438.91 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.33 percent to 5,868.90. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.04 percent to 2,341.27.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Wednesday afternoon, the cyclical consumer goods & services sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Lithia Motors Inc LAD and Radiant Logistics Inc RLGT.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell by 1.43 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Westmoreland Coal Company WLB, down 9 percent, and Whiting Petroleum Corp WLL, down 7 percent.

Top Headline

Morgan Stanley MS reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its first quarter.

Morgan Stanley said it earned $1.00 per share in the quarter on revenue of $9.7 billion; Analysts were expecting the company to earn $0.88 per share on revenue of $9.3 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Argos Therapeutics Inc ARGS shares shot up 53 percent to $0.600 after the company announced interim results of the Phase 3 ADAPT trial of Rocapuldencel-T and decision to continue the trial.

Shares of Soligenix, Inc. SNGX got a boost, shooting up 67 percent to $4.28. Soligenix reported that results from its ricin toxin vaccine program will be presented at the 20th Annual Conference on Vaccine Research.

CalAmp Corp. CAMP shares were also up, gaining 12 percent to $17.88 after the company reported strong Q4 results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Sunshine Heart Inc SSH shares dropped 32 percent to $0.913. Sunshine Heart reported the pricing of $8 million offering.

Shares of Libbey Inc. LBY were down around 23 percent to $10.74 after the company reported weak preliminary financial results for its first quarter.

Diana Shipping Inc. DSX was down, falling around 11 percent to $4.56. Diana Shipping reported an offering of $70 million in common shares.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 4.10 percent to $50.26 while gold traded down 0.84 percent to $1,283.20.

Silver traded down 0.59 percent Wednesday to $18.165, while copper fell 0.04 percent to $2.5395.

Eurozone

European shares closed mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.24 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.03 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 1.96 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX rose 0.16 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.30 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.36 percent.

Economics

Crude supplies dropped 1.03 million barrels for the latest week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were expecting a decline of 1.47 million barrels. Gasoline stockpiles rose 1.54 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles slipped 1.96 million barrels last week.

Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren is set to speak in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. at 12:30 p.m. ET.

The Federal Open Market Committee released its latest Beige Book report.