Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Tumbles Over 300 Points; Tahoe Resources Shares Rise On Acquisition News

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 1.2 percent to 24,982.49 while the NASDAQ declined 1.15 percent to 7,117.84. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.12 percent to 2,691.62.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Wednesday afternoon, the communication services shares climbed 0.01 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included YY Inc YY up 10 percent, and Bitauto Holdings Limited BITA up 6 percent.

In trading on Wednesday, financial shares fell 2.3 percent.

Top Headline

Macy's Inc M reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter and raised its full-year outlook.

Macy's posted Q3 earnings of $0.27 per share on sales of $5.404 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.14 per share on sales of $5.41 billion.

Macy's now expects FY18 earnings of $4.10 to $4.30 per share, versus prior forecast of $3.95 to $4.15 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Tahoe Resources Inc. TAHO shares shot up 46 percent to $3.20 after Pan American Silver Corp. PAAS announced the acquisition of Taho for $3.40 per share in cash.

Shares of Presbia PLC LENS got a boost, shooting up 51 percent to $1.10 after the company late Tuesday reported Q2 EPS of $(0.13), an improvement from $(0.28) last year.

Sphere 3D Corp. ANY shares were also up, gaining 69 percent to $2.7900. Sphere 3D reported completion of divestiture of Overland Storage.

Equities Trading DOWN

Resonant Inc. RESN shares dropped 40 percent to $1.72 after the company reported downbeat quarterly results.

Shares of Amyris, Inc. AMRS were down 34 percent to $3.8901 after the company reported a third-quarter loss of $0.63 per share on sales of $14.87 million.

PG&E Corporation PCG was down, falling around 26 percent to $24.20 after the company said it experienced an “electric incident” prior to the beginning of the Camp Fire in California and told investors its insurance would not be able to cover its liability if it's deemed responsible for the fire. In a new SEC filing Tuesday, PG&E said its subsidiary Pacific Gas & Electric Company has drawn down $3 billion from its credit line in preparation for potential liability for the California wildfire.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.4 percent to $56.47 while gold traded up 0.67 percent to $1,209.40.

Silver traded up 0.67 percent Wednesday to $14.07, while copper rose 0.71 percent to $2.706.

Eurozone

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.6 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.42 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.78 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 0.52 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.65 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.28 percent.

Economics

The Consumer Price Index rose 0.3 percent for October, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.3 percent increase.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will speak in Dallas, TX, at 5:00 p.m. ET.

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan is set to speak Dallas, TX at 5:00 p.m. ET.