Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; FedEx Tops Q1 Expectations

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.42% to 28111.93 while the NASDAQ rose 0.03% to 11193.23. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.29% to 3,410.98.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 6,606,670 cases with around 195,960 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 5,020,350 confirmed cases and 82,060 deaths, while Brazil reported over 4,382,260 COVID-19 cases with 133,110 deaths. In total, there were at least 29,607,590 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 935,870 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed 1.6% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Pacific Ethanol, Inc. PEIX, up 17%, and Oasis Petroleum Inc. OAS, up 16%.

In trading on Wednesday, information technology shares fell 0.1%.

Top Headline

FedEx Corporation FDX, on Tuesday, reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter.

FedEx posted quarterly earnings of $4.87 per share, versus analysts’ estimates of $2.69 per share. The company reported sales of $19.30 billion, beating expectations of $17.55 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Eastman Kodak Company KODK shares shot up 58% to $9.85 as the special committee appointed by its board declared the outcome of its independent review on the company’s handling of stock options to the CEO. The committee remarked that although there were no violations of the law, the company did a sub-par job in matters of corporate governance, according to Bloomberg.

Shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ARWR got a boost, shooting 40% to $47.22 after the company announced positive interim 24-week liver biopsy results in four subjects from AROAAT2002, an open-label Phase 2 clinical study of ARO-AAT, the company's second-generation investigational RNA interference therapeutic.

Myomo, Inc. MYO shares were also up, gaining 35% to $5.17 after the company announced that the HHS has authorized the company to be a Medicare provider.


Equities Trading DOWN

ADT Inc. ADT shares tumbled 13% to $9.44 after the company priced its 43.5 million share offering by selling shareholders at $10 per share.

Shares of American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. AXL were down 11% to $6.87.

ClearSign Technologies Corporation CLIR was down, falling 10% to $2.27 after the company reported Q2 results.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 2.4% to $39.20, while gold traded up 0.4% to $1,973.70.

Silver traded up 0.2% Wednesday to $27.52, while copper fell 0.1% to $3.06.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.4%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.3%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.3%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 gained 0.1%, French CAC 40 rose 0.1% and London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.2%.

The UK’s annual inflation slowed in August, with consumer prices increasing just 0.2% on the year, versus a 1% rise in July.

Economics

U.S. retail sales rose 0.6% in August, versus a revised 0.9% increase in July.

U.S. business inventories increased 0.1% for July.

The NAHB housing market index rose 5 points to a reading of 83 in September.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The Federal Reserve is scheduled to announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET. No change in interest rate is expected at the meeting.

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

The Treasury International Capital report for July will be released at 4:00 p.m. ET.