Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Surges 600 Points; RR Donnelley & Sons Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 2.52% to 24,708.76 while the NASDAQ rose 3.51% to 8,909.93. The S&P also rose, gaining 2.81% to 2,943.92. The U.S. is the new epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic with the highest number of cases and deaths around the world. U.S. reported a total of 1,012,580 coronavirus cases with around 58,350 deaths. Spain confirmed a total of over 232,120 coronavirus cases with 23,820 deaths, while Italy reported a total of at least 201,500 confirmed cases and 27,350 deaths. In total, there were at least 3,127,510 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 217,560 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Leading and Lagging Sectors Energy shares climbed 5.5% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included SM Energy Company SM, up 62%, and Liberty Oilfield Services Inc. LBRT, up 30%. In trading on Wednesday, consumer staples shares rose by just 0.3%. Top Headline General Electric Company GE reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its first quarter, while sales exceeded views. GE reported quarterly earnings of $0.05 per share, beating analysts' estimates of $0.08 per share. The company's sales came in at $20.524 billion, exceeding the consensus view of $20.21 billion. GE continued to evaluate strategic options to accelerate further reduction in the size of GE Capital. Equities Trading UP Capricor Therapeutics, Inc. CAPR shares shot up 278% to $9.10 after the company reported that its new data from study of 6 critically-ill coronavirus patients showed 100% survival following treatment with its CAP-1002. Shares of R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company RRD got a boost, shooting 43% to $1.79 after the company reported upbeat results. Chimerix, Inc. CMRX shares were also up, gaining 49% to $2.25 after the company announced it has initiated its Phase 2/3 study of DSTAT in acute lung injury for patients with severe coronavirus. Equities Trading DOWN Creative Realities, Inc. CREX shares tumbled 30% to $2.85. Creative Realities unveiled non-contact and AI-enabled temperature detection solution to assist businesses in safely reopening. Shares of Blue Apron Holdings, Inc. APRN were down 24% to $9.55 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q1 results. Blue Apron also filed for $75 million mixed shelf offering. Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. FDP was down, falling 14% to $30.27 after the company reported downbeat Q1 results. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded up 25.5% to $15.48, while gold traded down 0.3% to $1,716.80. Silver traded up 0.4% Wednesday to $15.395, while copper rose 1.1% to $2.371. Euro zone European shares closed higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 1.75%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 3.21%, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index climbed 2.21%. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 2.89%, and the French CAC 40 climbed 2.22% while UK shares rose 2.63%. Economics The US economy contracted by an annual pace of 4.8% in the first, versus economists' estimates for a 4.0% decline. The pending home sales index fell 16.3% year-over-year in March 2020, versus a revised 9.3% rise in the prior month. U.S. crude inventories climbed 9 million barrels for the week ended April 24, the Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts expected a gain of 9.8 million barrels. Gasoline supplies dropped 3.7 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles rose 5.1 million barrels last week. The Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged.