Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Jumps 350 Points; Iterum Therapeutics Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 1.28% to 27,804 while the NASDAQ rose 0.83% to 11177.49. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.92% to 3,366.11.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 7,191,340 cases with around 206,000 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 6,225,760 confirmed cases and 97,490 deaths, while Brazil reported over 4,777,520 COVID-19 cases with 142,920 deaths. In total, there were at least 33,676,270 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 1,008,410 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Health care shares jumped 1.7% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Genetron Holdings Limited GTH, up 24%, and I-Mab IMAB, up 19%.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell by 0.3%.

Top Headline

Micron Technology, Inc. MU reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter, but issued weak profit forecast for the first quarter.

Micron reported quarterly earnings of $1.08 per share, exceeding analysts’ estimates of $0.99 per share. The company reported sales of $6.06 billion, surpassing expectations of $5.89 billion.

Micron said it expects Q1 adjusted EPS of $0.40 to $0.54, versus analysts’ estimates of $0.69. The company projects sales of $5.0 billion to $5.4 billion, versus expectations of $5.31 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Iterum Therapeutics plc ITRM shares shot up 72% to $1.11 after the company said, based on discussions at a pre-NDA meeting with the FDA, it plans to proceed with an NDA submission for sulopenem etzadroxil/probenecid, a bilayer tablet, for the treatment of uncomplicated urinary tract infections in patients with a quinolone-resistant pathogen.

Shares of CynergisTek, Inc. CTEK got a boost, shooting 23% to $1.37 after the company announced a 3-year risk management program with Valley Health Systems.

CTI BioPharma Corp. CTIC shares were also up, gaining 101% to $2.11 after the company said it has reached an agreement with the FDA to submit an NDA for the potential accelerated approval of pacritinib as a treatment for myelofibrosis patients with severe thrombocytopenia. This follows the company's recent pre-NDA meeting with the agency.

Equities Trading DOWN

Aptorum Group Limited APM shares tumbled 43% to $2.71. Aptorum Group priced its offering of 2.769 million Class A ordinary shares and warrants to purchase up to another 2.769 million Class A Ordinary Shares, at a combined public offering price of $3.25 per share and related warrant.

Shares of The9 Limited NCTY were down 39% to $0.3169 after the company reported pricing of $8.7 million underwritten offering.

Oasis Petroleum Inc. OAS was down, falling 31% to $0.2822 after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.7% to $39.95, while gold traded down 0.6% to $1,892.80.

Silver traded down 4.3% Wednesday to $23.40 while copper rose 1.1% to $3.0235.

Euro zone

European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.11%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.04%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.24%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 fell 0.51%, French CAC 40 fell 0.59% and London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.53%.

Spain reported a narrower current account surplus, which shrank to EUR 1.45 billion in July versus EUR 3.74 billion in the year-ago period. German jobless claims declined for the third straight month, falling by 8,000 in September.

Economics

US private businesses hired 749,000 workers in September, the ADP reported

The US economy contracted by an annualized rate of 31.4% in the second quarter versus a 31.7% decline in the second estimate.

The Chicago PMI climbed to 62.4 in September versus 51.2 in August.

The pending home sales index climbed 8.8% for August.

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan is set to speak at 6:00 p.m. ET.