Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Rises Over 200 Points; Ocugen Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.90% to 26398.47 while the NASDAQ rose 1.24% to 7921.14. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.13% to 2,925.79.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares climbed 1.8% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Cerence Inc. CRNC, up 7%, and Net 1 UEPS Technologies, Inc. UEPS, up 7%.

In trading on Wednesday, real estate shares rose by just 0.6%.

Top Headline

Johnson & Johnson JNJ is reaching deeper in its pockets to comply with the verdict of its second major lawsuit this month.

On Wednesday, a Philadelphia court ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $8 billion in damages to a Risperdal consumer who said the company had failed to warn of the drug’s risk of gynecomastia — breast development in males. The man had previously been awarded $680,000 for the same claims.

The USDA had approved the drug in 1993, but the plaintiffs claim Johnson & Johnson inappropriately marketed it for unauthorized use for children..


Equities Trading UP

American Outdoor Brands Corporation AOBC shares shot up 9% to $6.52 after Craig-Hallum upgraded the company's stock from Hold to Buy and announced a $10 price target.

Shares of Ocugen, Inc. OCGN surged 37% to $1.7494 after the company reported a $2 million buyback.

Roku, Inc. ROKU was up, rising 9% to $117.68. Macquarie upgraded Roku from Neutral to Outperform.

Equities Trading DOWN

James River Group Holdings, Ltd. JRVR shares tumbled 22% to $38.00 after the company announced the early cancellation of insurance policies issued to its largest customer scheduled for Q3. The stock was also downgraded from a couple firms and lowered their price target.

Shares of RPC, Inc. RES were down 8% to $4.745 after Citigroup maintained a Sell rating on the company's stock and lowered the price target from $5 to $4.80. RPC is expected to release its Q3 financial results on Wednesday, October 23, 2019 before the market opens.

United States Steel Corporation X was down, falling 8% to $10.14. The company late Tuesday announced organizational changes to implement an 'enhanced operating model' in order to achieve cost savings.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 0.3% to $52.77, while gold traded up 0.6% to $1,513.30.

Silver traded up 0.6% Wednesday to $17.80, while copper rose 0.1% to $2.5695.

Euro zone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.42%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.58%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.6%. Meanwhile, the German DAX climbed 1.04%, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.78% while UK shares rose 0.33%.

Economics

Job openings fell to 7.05 million in August, compared to 7.17 million in the previous month, the Labor Department reported.

U.S. wholesale inventories rose 0.2% for August, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.4% increase.

U.S. crude supplies rose 2.927 million barrels for the week ended October 4, the Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts expected a gain of 1.413 million barrels. Gasoline supplies fell 1.213 million barrels, while distillate supplies fell 3.943 million barrels last week.

The Federal Open Market Committee released minutes of its latest meeting.