Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Surges 250 Points; Oxford Industries Shares Tumble

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 1.30 percent to 19,502.51 while the NASDAQ gained 0.65 percent to 5,367.73. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.91 percent to 2,232.43.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Wednesday afternoon, basic materials shares gained by 1.74 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Intrepid Potash, Inc. IPI, and L.B. Foster Co FSTR.

In trading on Wednesday, healthcare shares fell by 0.91 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Alere Inc ALR, down 8 percent, and Exelixis, Inc. EXEL, down 10 percent.

Top Headline

Korn/Ferry International KFY reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter on Wednesday.

Korn/Ferry reported Q2 earnings of $0.59 per share on revenue of $415 million. Analysts were expecting earnings of $0.57 per share on revenue of $391 million.

The company expects Q3 fee revenue of $370 to $390 million and earnings of$0.48 to $0.56 per share.

Equities Trading UP

Anthera Pharmaceuticals Inc ANTH shares shot up 35 percent to $1.98 after the company reported that blisibimod Bright-SC IgA nephropathy continued to demonstrate 48 week positive trend analysis.

Shares of EMCORE Corporation EMKR got a boost, shooting up 30 percent to $8.38 after the company posted upbeat Q4 results.

Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. PLAY shares were also up, gaining 17 percent to $56.39 after the company reported stronger-than-expected results for its third quarter and boosted its full year net income guidance.

Equities Trading DOWN

Sigma Designs Inc SIGM shares dropped 30 percent to $5.43. Sigma Designs reported fiscal third-quarter net income of $221,000 on revenue of $62.7 million.

Shares of Powell Industries, Inc. POWL were down 14 percent to $40.06. Powell Industries reported Q4 adjusted earnings of $0.54 per share on sales of $129.8 million.

Oxford Industries Inc OXM was down, falling around 11 percent to $64.05. Oxford Industries reported a narrower-than-expected loss for its third quarter. The company projects full-year earnings of $3.50 to $3.65 per share, and revenue of $1.02 billion to $1.03 billion.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.39 percent to $50.22 while gold traded up 0.65 percent to $1,177.70.

Silver traded up 2.59 percent Wednesday to $17.25, while copper fell 1.21 percent to $2.65.

Eurozone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.91 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.75 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 2.10 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 1.96 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 1.36 percent while U.K. shares rose 1.81 percent.

Economics

The MBA’s index of mortgage application activity declined 0.7 percent for the latest week.

Job openings declined 5.5 million in October, versus a revised reading of 5.6 million in September, the Labor Department reported.

U.S crude supplies dropped 2.4 million barrels for the week ended December 2, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were projecting a decline of 1.7 million barrels. Gasoline supplies rose 3.4 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles increased 2.5 million barrels.