Mid-Day Market Update: NASDAQ Rises 2%; Neurocrine Biosciences Shares Plunge

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 1.45 percent to 24,722.86 while the NASDAQ climbed 2.01 percent to 7,173.22. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.55 percent to 2,677.63.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Wednesday, the information technology shares climbed 1.8 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Aurora Mobile Ltd - ADR JG up 15 percent, and Himax Technologies, Inc. HIMC up 9 percent.

In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares fell 0.3 percent.

Top Headline

Vera Bradley, Inc. VRA reported weaker-than-expected results for its third quarter.

Vera Bradley reported quarterly earnings of $0.12 per share on revenue of $97.7 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.16 per share on sales of $101.7 million.

Vera Bradley expects Q4 earnings of $0.22 to $0.25 per share on sales of $114 million to $119 million. The company projects FY19 earnings of $0.57 to $0.60 per share, on sales of $412 million to $417 million.

Equities Trading UP

Astrotech Corp ASTC shares got a boost, shooting up 31 percent to $3.51 after the company's subsidiary, 1st Detect, announced its TRACER 1000 explosives trace detector passed the European Civil Aviation Conference's common evaluation conference.

Shares of Sparton Corporation SPA shot up 39 percent to $18.26 after the company agreed to be purchased by Cerberus at $18.50 per share in cash.

Uxin Limited UXIN shares were also up, gaining 27 percent to $7.46 after the company announced it facilitated over 2,000 transactions in 18 hours during Taobao's Double 12 Shopping Festival.

Equities Trading DOWN

Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. NBIX shares dropped 22 percent to $66.61 after the company announced a Phase IIb study did not meet its primary endpoint in Tourette's Syndrome patients.

Shares of Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc. SGYP were down 71 percent to $0.0981 after the company initiated voluntary proceedings under Chapter 11 and announced Bausch Health will acquire its assets for $200 million in cash.

Marinus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. MRNS was down, falling around 12 percent to $4.49 after reporting an offering of 12 million shares of common stock.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.17 percent to $51.74 while gold traded up 0.34 percent to $1,251.40.

Silver traded up 1.31 percent Wednesday to $14.82, while copper fell 0.11 percent to $2.764.

Eurozone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 1.57 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index gained 1.46 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index jumped 1.87 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 1.4 percent, and the French CAC 40 jumped 2.14 percent while U.K. shares rose 1.22 percent.

Economics

U.S. consumer prices were unchanged for November, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.1 percent increase.

Domestic crude supplies dropped 1.21 million barrels for the week ended December 7, the Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were projecting a fall of 2.99 million barrels. Gasoline stockpiles gained 2.09 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles slipped 1.47 million barrels last week.

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

The U.S. Treasury budget report for November will be released at 2:00 p.m. ET.