Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Falls Over 700 Points; Myriad Genetics Shares Plummet

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 2.93% to 25,510.99 while the NASDAQ fell 3.04% to 7,772.28. The S&P also fell, dropping 2.81% to 2,844.13.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares slipped by just 0.3% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Just Energy Group Inc. JE, up 1%, 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

Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives, Inc. IEA shares shot up 64% to $3.9121 after reporting Q2 results.

Shares of Akari Therapeutics, Plc AKTX got a boost, shooting up 36% to $2.46 after receiving FDA Fast Track designation for nomacopan for pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplant-related thrombotic microangiopathy.

Xunlei Limited XNET shares were also up, gaining 25% to $2.58 after the company reported Q2 earnings. Xunlei reported second-quarter diluted loss per ADS was 3 cents compared with a diluted loss of 13 cents in the previous quarter. The company reported total revenues were $47.8 million, representing an increase of 15.7% from the previous quarter.

Equities Trading DOWN

Myriad Genetics, Inc. MYGN shares tumbled 39% to $27.19 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 DelMar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. DMPI were down 44% to $0.9150. DelMar Pharmaceuticals priced 6.75 million share common stock offering at $1 per share.

Reed's, Inc. REED was down, falling 27% to $2.19 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 4% to $54.83, while gold traded up 1% to $1,528.60.

Silver traded up 1.5% Wednesday to $17.245, while copper fell 1.2% to $2.598.

Euro zone

European shares closed 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.