Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Crude Oil Up 2.6%; Synchronoss Technologies Shares Drop After Q4 Results

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.32 percent to 25,637.11 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.82 percent to 7,653.38. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.75 percent to 2,812.33.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Wednesday afternoon, the health care shares climbed 1.3 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Guardant Health, Inc. GH up 24 percent, and Natera, Inc. NTRA up 21 percent.

In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares rose by just 0.2 percent.

Top Headline

Express, Inc. EXPR reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales missed views. The company also issued weak forecast for the first quarter.

Express reported quarterly earnings of $0.19 per share on sales of $628.4 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.16 per share on sales of $629.63 million.

Express projects Q1 EPS of $(0.34) to $(0.27), versus analysts’ estimates of $(0.04). The company expects Q1 comparable sales down 9 percent to 11 percent.

Equities Trading UP

Akari Therapeutics PLC AKTX shares got a boost, shooting up 182 percent to $5.14 after the company had a successful Type B, pre-IND meeting with the FDA regarding Akari's proposed pivotal clinical trial program for hematopoietic stem cell transplant-related thrombotic microangiopathy.

Shares of Pareteum Corporation TEUM shot up 24 percent to $4.8585 after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 EPS and sales results.

Guardant Health, Inc. GH shares were also up, gaining 27 percent to $94.25 after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 results. The company also issued FY19 sales guidance above analyst estimates.

Equities Trading DOWN

Sientra, Inc. SIEN shares dropped 24 percent to $8.60 after the company reported lower-than-expected Q4 EPS results.

Shares of INSYS Therapeutics, Inc. INSY were down 24 percent to $4.3231 after the company disclosed in its annual filing that the auditor's opinion on their audited financial statements included a paragraph stating concerns of the company's ability to continue as a going concern.

Synchronoss Technologies, Inc. SNCR was down, falling around 18 percent to $6.74 after reporting lower-than-expected earnings and sales for its fourth quarter.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2.6 percent to $58.35 while gold traded up 0.8 percent to $1,308.60.

Silver traded up 0.3 percent Wednesday to $15.465, while copper rose 0.1 percent to $2.9325.

Eurozone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.63 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.34 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.57 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.42 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.69 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.11 percent.

Economics

U.S. durable goods orders increased 0.4 percent for January, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.7 percent decline.

The Producer Price Index rose 0.1 percent for February, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.2 percent increase.

U.S. construction spending rose 1.3 percent for January, beating economists’ estimates of a 0.4 percent gain.

U.S. crude supplies dropped 3.86 million barrels for the week ended March 8, the Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts projected a gain of 1.2 million barrels. Supplies of gasoline fell 4.62 million barrels, while distillates rose 383,000 barrels last week.