Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Surges Over 200 Points; Fed Raises Interest Rates

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.84 percent to 24,934.56 while the NASDAQ gained 0.50 percent to 7,401.17. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.66 percent to 2,734.82.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Wednesday afternoon, the energy shares gained 2.74 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Obsidian Energy Ltd. OBE, up 12 percent, and Sanchez Energy Corporation SN, up 11 percent.

In trading on Wednesday, consumer staples shares fell 0.96 percent.

Top Headline

General Mills, Inc. GIS reported upbeat results for its third quarter, but lowered its FY18 earnings forecast.

Adjusted earnings came in at 79 cents per share, beating estimates of 78 cents per share. Sales came in at $3.9 billion, versus estimates of $3.78 billion.

General Mills now expects FY18 adjusted earnings to rise up to 1 percent, versus earlier forecast for a 3 percent to 4 percent growth.

Equities Trading UP

China Auto Logistics Inc. CALI shares shot up 52 percent to $5.63.

Shares of Tecogen Inc. TGEN got a boost, shooting up 16 percent to $2.86 after the company posted upbeat quarterly results.

DXP Enterprises, Inc. DXPE shares were also up, gaining 21 percent to $39.60 after the company reported strong quarterly results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Alder Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. ALDR shares dropped 14 percent to $11.675. Alder BioPharma named Paul Cleveland as interim President and CEO.

Shares of General Mills, Inc. GIS were down 10 percent to $45.105. General Mills reported upbeat results for its third quarter, but lowered its FY18 earnings forecast.

Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. RKDA was down, falling around 7 percent to $36.00 as the company posted Q4 results.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2.42 percent to $65.08 while gold traded up 0.98 percent to $1,330.50.

Silver traded up 1.64 percent Wednesday to $16.45, while copper rose 0.79 percent to $3.062.

Eurozone

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.16 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.52 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.10 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX rose 0.01 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.24 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.32 percent.

Economics

U.S. current account deficit widened to $128.2 billion in the fourth quarter, versus $101.5 billion in the third quarter. Economists projected a deficit of $125 billion.

Existing-home sales rose 3 percent at an annual pace of 5.54 million in February. Economists were expecting a 5.41 million rate.

Crude supplies slipped 2.62 million barrels for the week ended March 16, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. Analysts projected a gain of 2.6 million barrels. Gasoline stockpiles declined 1.69 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles fell 2.02 million barrels for the week.

The Federal Open Market Committee raised the fed funds rate from 1.25 percent - 1.5 percent, to 1.5 percent - 1.75 percent.