Mid-Day Market Update: Crude Oil Down Over 5%; Purple Innovation Shares Rises After Q2 Results

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 1.71% to 25,830.32 while the NASDAQ fell 1.99% to 7,857.00. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.69% to 2,876.80.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares rose 0.3% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Just Energy Group Inc. JE, up 2%, and American States Water Company AWR, up 2%.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares tumbled 3.5%.

Top Headline

Macy's Inc M reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its second quarter and lowered its FY19 earnings outlook.

Macy's reported second-quarter earnings of $0.28 per share, which missed the analyst consensus estimate of $0.46 per share. The company reported quarterly sales of $5.546 billion, which missed the analyst consensus estimate of $5.55 billion.

Macy's lowered its FY19 adjusted EPS guidance from $3.05-$3.25 to $2.85-$3.05.

Equities Trading UP

Purple Innovation, Inc. PRPL shares shot up 24% to $8.11 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 EPS and sales results.

Shares of Akari Therapeutics, Plc AKTX got a boost, shooting up 30% to $2.3553 after receiving FDA Fast Track designation for nomacopan for pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplant-related thrombotic microangiopathy.

Presidio, Inc. PSDO shares were also up, gaining 22% to $16.02 after the company announced an agreement to be acquired by BC Partners for $16 per share in cash.

Equities Trading DOWN

Myriad Genetics, Inc. MYGN shares tumbled 43% to $25.52 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q4 EPS and sales results. The company also issued Q1 and FY20 guidance below analyst estimates.

Shares of CorePoint Lodging Inc. CPLG were down 23% to $8.40 after the company reported Q2 resulst.

Reed's, Inc. REED was down, falling 27% to $2.2039 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q2 EPS and sales results. The company also issued FY19 sales guidance below analyst estimates.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 5.1% to $54.17, while gold traded up 1% to $1,528.50.

Silver traded up 1.5% Wednesday to $17.235, while copper fell 1.3% to $2.595.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 1.68%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.98%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dipped 2.53%. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 2.19%, and the French CAC 40 fell 2.08% while UK shares fell 1.42%.

Economics

The import price index increased 0.2% for July, while export prices rose 0.2% last month.

U.S. crude supplies increased 1.6 million barrels for the week ended August 9, the Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts expected a gain of 2.4 million barrels. Gasoline inventories dropped 1.4 million barrels last week, while distillate stockpiles fell 1.9 million barrels.