Mid-Day Market Update: Crude Oil Up 5%; Constellation Brands Shares Plunge

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.61 percent to 23,932.86 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.86 percent to 6,956.35. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.55 percent to 2,588.44.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Wednesday, the energy shares climbed 1.6 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Chesapeake Energy Corporation CHK up 15 percent, and Covia Holdings Corporation CVIA up 14 percent.

In trading on Wednesday, real estate shares fell 1.1 percent.

Top Headline

Lennar Corporation LEN reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales missed estimates.

Lennar posted Q4 earnings of $1.96 per share on sales of $6.459 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.93 per share on sales of $6.55 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Gogo Inc. GOGO shares got a boost, shooting up 16 percent to $3.57 after the company raised FY18 guidance and announced successful modifications to protect against contamination of its de-icing fluid.

Shares of Diebold Nixdorf, Incorporated DBD shot up 24 percent to $3.49. DA Davidson upgraded Diebold Nixdorf from Neutral to Buy.

Atossa Genetics Inc. ATOS shares were also up, gaining 37 percent to $1.68 after the company announced the completion of its Phase 1 Endoxifen study. The study showed no clinically significant adverse events and was well tolerated.

Equities Trading DOWN

SMART Global Holdings, Inc. SGH shares dropped 27 percent to $23.39 after the company reported downbeat earnings for its first quarter and issued weak forecast for the second quarter.

Shares of Constellation Brands, Inc. STZ were down 10 percent to $155.93 after management cut 2019 guidance to account for its Canopy Growth Corp investment. However, the company reported upbeat Q3 earnings.

Hudson Ltd. HUD was down, falling around 13 percent to $14.60 after the company announced its CEO, Joseph DiDomizio is stepping down and the COO, Roger Fordyce will be taking his place.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 5.06 percent to $52.30 while gold traded up 0.38 percent to $1,290.80.

Silver traded down 0.08 percent Wednesday to $15.70, while copper rose 0.38 percent to $2.666.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 surged 0.53 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.27 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.94 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.83 percent, and the French CAC 40 jumped 0.84 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.66 percent.

Economics

Domestic crude supplies declined 1.68 million barrels for the week ended January 4, the Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts projected a drop of 2.8 million barrels. Gasoline stockpiles gained 8.07 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles climbed 10.61 million barrels last week.

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

The Federal Open Market Committee will issue minutes of its latest meeting at 2:00 p.m. ET.