Mid-Day Market Update: Dow Tumbles 500 Points; United Natural Foods Shares Spike Higher

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 2.13% to 23,257 while the NASDAQ fell 1.93% to 8828. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.88% to 2,816.

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 1,370,010 coronavirus cases with around 82,380 deaths. Spain confirmed a total of over 228,030 coronavirus cases with 26,920 deaths, while Russia reported a total of at least 232,240 confirmed cases and 2,210 deaths. In total, there were at least 4,278,180 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 292,310 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer staples shares slipped by just 0.2% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included United Natural Foods, Inc. UNFI, up 42%, and Veru Inc. VERU, up 16%.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell 4.1%.

Top Headline

Tower Semiconductor Ltd. TSEM reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter on Wednesday.

Tower Semiconductor posted quarterly adjusted earnings of $0.20 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $0.19 per share. The company’s sales came in at $300.00 million, exceeding the consensus view of $297.57 million.

Tower Semiconductor expects Q2 sales of $310 million.

Equities Trading UP

SIFCO Industries, Inc. SIF shares shot up 85% to $4.07 following Q2 results. Sifco Industries posted Q2 earnings of $0.57 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $0.43 per share.

Shares of Esports Entertainment Group, Inc. GMBL got a boost, shooting 38% to $5.70 after the company disclosed that it has received Malta gaming license.

United Natural Foods, Inc. UNFI shares were also up, gaining 43% to $22.25 after the company reported strong preliminary Q3 results. Wells Fargo upgraded United Natural Foods from Underweight to Equal-Weight.

Equities Trading DOWN

Varex Imaging Corporation VREX shares tumbled 29% to $18.10 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q2 results and withdrew its FY20 guidance.

Shares of Infinera Corporation INFN were down 24% to $4.425 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q1 earnings. The company also issued Q1 sales guidance on the low-end of analyst estimates.

8x8, Inc. EGHT was down, falling 22% to $15.90 despite the company reporting better-than-expected Q4 earnings and sales results. The company reported a larger net loss year-over-year and issued guidance slightly below estimates. Various analysts also lowered their price target on the stock.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 1.3% to $25.45, while gold traded up 0.9% to $1,722.50.

Silver traded up 0.3% Wednesday to $15.755, while copper fell 0.3% to $2.352.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 1.54%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.34%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 1.56%. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 2%, and the French CAC 40 fell 2.28% while UK shares fell 1.6%.

Economics

The Producer Price Index dropped 1.3% in April, versus analysts’ expectations for a 0.5% decline.

U.S. crude inventories declined 700,000 barrels for the week ended May 8, the Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts expected a gain of 4.8 million barrels. Crude stocks at Cushing, Okla. fell 3 million barrels last week. Gasoline supply dropped 3.5 million barrels for the week, while distillate stockpiles gained 3.5 million barrels.

The Treasury is set to auction 30-year bonds at 1:00 p.m. ET.