Mid-Day Market Update: FedEx Falls Following Downbeat Q2 Results; SPI Energy Shares Jump

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.33% to 27,021.51 while the NASDAQ fell 0.37% to 8,155.91. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.31% to 2,996.30.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares climbed 0.5% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included PG&E Corporation PCG, up 6%, and Just Energy Group Inc. JE, up 4%.

In trading on Wednesday, industrials shares fell 0.8%.

Top Headline

General Mills, Inc. GIS reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter, while sales missed estimates.

General Mills reported first-quarter earnings of 79 cents per share Wednesday, beating the analyst consensus estimate of 77 cents. The company reported quarterly sales of $4.003 billion, missing the analyst consensus estimate of $4.08 billion.


Equities Trading UP

SPI Energy Co., Ltd. SPI shares shot up 46% to $3.16 after the company announced the launch of its newly established hemp and CBD business. The company also announced it has formed a partnership with the Navajo Nation.

Shares of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. LXRX got a boost, shooting up 25% to $3.66 after two company insiders bought shares totaling $1.054 million.

DAVIDsTEA Inc. DTEA shares were also up, gaining 17% to $2.00 after reporting Q2 results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Zynerba Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ZYNE shares tumbled 20% to $9.00 after Zygel safety data showed 96% of patients experienced a treatment emergent adverse event.

Shares of ZK International Group Co., Ltd. ZKIN were down 18% to $1.5316 after the company reported H'1 sales of $31.54 million, an increase from the same period last year.

FedEx Corporation FDX was down, falling 14% to $149.46 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q2 EPS and sales results. The company also cut FY20 sales guidance.
 

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 1.3% to $58.56, while gold traded up 0.2% to $1,516.70.

Silver traded down 0.7% Wednesday to $18.02, while copper fell 0.4% to $2.617.

Euro zone


European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.07%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.4%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.78%. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.21%, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.22% while UK shares fell 0.09%.

Economics

U.S. housing starts rose 12% to an annual rate of 1.36 million in August, versus a revised 1.22 million in July. Permits increased 8% to an annual pace of 1.42 million.

U.S. crude supplies climbed 1.1 million barrels for the week ended September 13, the Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts expected a decline of 2 million barrels. Gasoline inventories rose 800,000 barrels last week, while distillate stockpiles gained 400,000 barrels.

The Federal Open Market Committee will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET.

The Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET.