Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Rises 170 Points; Pivotal Software Shares Plunge

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.67 percent to 25,502 while the NASDAQ rose 0.39 percent to 7,557. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.63 percent to 2,821.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares rose 1.9 percent on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included PG&E Corporation PCG, up 5 percent, and Just Energy Group Inc. JE, up 5 percent.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell by 1 percent.

Top Headline

Campbell Soup CPB reported better-than-expected Q3 results and raised FY19 earnings guidance.

The company reported quarterly earnings of $0.56 per share, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $0.47 per share. Campbell’s reported quarterly sales of $2.388 billion exceeded the analyst consensus estimate of $2.36 billion.

Campbell Soup raised its FY19 adjusted EPS guidance from $2.45-$2.53 to $2.50-$2.55. However, the company lowered its net sales guidance from $9.975 billion-$10.10 billion to $9.075 billion-$9.125 billion.

Equities Trading UP

ReWalk Robotics Ltd. RWLK shares shot up 150 percent to $8.29 following news the FDA issued clearance for the company's ReStore Exo-Suit. ReWalk Robotics announced exercise of warrants resulting in cash proceeds of $10.8 million through agreement for investors to purchase shares at $7.50 per share.

Shares of Campbell Soup Company CPB got a boost, shooting up 9 percent to $41.56 after the company reported better-than-expected Q3 EPS and sales results. The company also raised FY19 EPS guidance.

Cronos Group Inc. CRON shares were also up, gaining 12 percent to $16.16. Bank of America upgraded Cronos Group from Underperform to Buy and raised the price target from $13 to $20.

Equities Trading DOWN

InflaRx N.V. IFRX shares tumbled 92 percent to $3.08 after the company reported IFX-1 did not demonstrate statistical significance.

Shares of Pivotal Software, Inc. PVTL were down 42 percent to $10.71. Pivotal Software posted a narrower-than-expected Q1 loss, but issued Q2 and FY20 sales guidance below analyst estimates.

GameStop Corp. GME was down, falling 37 percent to $4.89. Gamestop reported upbeat earnings for its first quarter, while sales missed views. The company sees 2019 comparable sales down 5-10 percent.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 3 percent to $51.91, while gold traded up 0.4 percent to $1,333.90.

Silver traded up 0.1 percent Wednesday to $14.775, while copper fell 1.7 percent to $2.6225.

Euro zone

European shares closed mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.38 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.36 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.36 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.08 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.45 percent while UK shares rose 0.08 percent.

Economics

Private sector employers added 27,000 jobs in May, ADP reported. However, economists were expecting a gain of 180,000 jobs.

The IHS Markit services PMI came in at 50.9 in May, versus economists’ expectations for a reading of 50.9.

The ISM non-manufacturing index increased to 56.9 in May, versus previous reading of 55.5.

U.S. crude supplies climbed 6.8 million barrels for the week ended May 31, the Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts projected a decline of 1.7 million barrels. Gasoline inventories rose 3.2 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles rose 4.6 million barrels last week.

The Federal Open Market Committee released its latest Beige Book report.