Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Up 200 Points; RiceBran Technologies Shares Plunge

Toward the end of trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.72% to 28,112 while the NASDAQ rose 0.6% to 8,706.08. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.8% to 3,166.63.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed 1.8% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included HighPoint Resources Corp HPR, up 12%, and Antero Resources Corp AR, up 11%.

In trading on Thursday, real estate shares fell 1.4%.

Top Headline

Ciena Corporation CIEN reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales exceeded estimates.

CIENA posted quarterly earnings of $0.58 per share, missing analysts’ estimates of $0.63 per share. Its sales came in at $968 million, versus expectations of $964.29 million.

Equities Trading UP

Diebold Nixdorf, Incorporated DBD shares shot up 25% to $9.70 after the company reaffirmed FY19 guidance and issued FY20 guidance.

Shares of Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. AMRX got a boost, shooting up 36% to $4.72 after the company announced it has received abbreviated new drug application approval from the FDA for EluRyng.

Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. TNXP shares were also up, gaining 27% to $1.2342 after announcing a new European patent for composition and formulation of TNX-102 SL. The patent will provide the company with market exclusivity until 2034.

Equities Trading DOWN

RiceBran Technologies RIBT shares tumbled 32% to $1.4185 after the company announced a proposed public offering of common stock.

Shares of Camber Energy, Inc. CEI were down 29% to $1.4650 as a potential sell-off after the stock increased roughly 260% over the last 2 trading sessions.

Diffusion Pharmaceuticals Inc. DFFN was down, falling 24% to $0.4316 after the company announced it has received a notice from Nasdaq indicating the company is not in compliance with the $1 minimum bid price rule.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 1.1% to $59.38, while gold traded down 0.2% to $1,471.90.

Silver traded up 0.6% Thursday to $16.95, while copper rose 0.3% to $2.797.

Euro zone


European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.33%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.81%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 1.02%. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.57%, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.40% while UK shares rose 0.79%.

Economics

Initial jobless claims rose 49,000 to 252,000 for the latest week.

The Producer Price Index was flat for November, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.2% rise.

Domestic supplies of natural gas dropped 73 billion cubic feet for the week ended December 6, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts projected a decline of 74 billion cubic feet.

Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.