Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.05% to 29,809.24 while the NASDAQ fell 0.11% to 12,341.07. However, the S&P gained 0.04% to 3,663.96.
The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 13,726,300 cases with around 270,690 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 9,499,410 confirmed cases and 138,120 deaths, while Brazil reported over 6,386,780 COVID-19 cases with 173,810 deaths. In total, there were at least 63,995,700 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 1,483,220 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Energy shares climbed 4.5% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included QEP Resources, Inc. QEP, up 16%, and Callon Petroleum Company CPE, up 18%.
In trading on Wednesday, real estate shares fell 1.1%.
Top Headline
Pfizer Inc PFE and its German partner BioNTech SE BNTX said Wednesday they have received regulatory approval in the United Kingdom for their COVID-19 vaccine..
The go-ahead from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) means the U.K. has become the first country to approve a COVID-19 vaccine on an emergency basis ahead of the United States and the European Union.
Equities Trading UP
Sequential Brands Group, Inc. SQBG shares shot up 22% to $11.50 after the company announced relaunch of broad review of strategic alternatives.
Shares of Tredegar Corporation TG got a boost, shooting 28% to $21.16 after the company declared a special dividend of $5.97 per share.
Kingsway Financial Services Inc. KFS shares were also up, gaining 25% to $3.78. Kingsway Financial Services reported the closing of its acquisition of PWI Holdings, Inc.
Equities Trading DOWN
Ovid Therapeutics Inc. OVID shares tumbled 55% to $2.9652 after the company announced topline results from the Phase 3 NEPTUNE study of OV101 for the treatment of Angelman syndrome, showing the study did not meet the primary endpoint of change in overall score on the Clinical Global Impression-Improvement-Angelman syndrome. Citigroup downgraded Ovid Therapeutics from Buy to Neutral and lowered the price target from$10 to $4.
Shares of Auris Medical Holding Ltd. EARS were down 33% to $3.48 after the company priced an $8 million offering at $4 per share.
ReneSola Ltd SOL was down, falling 17% to $6.57 after the company reported downbeat quarterly sales..
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 3% to $45.90, while gold traded up 0.6% to $1,829.50.
Silver traded down 0.1% Wednesday to $24.06 while copper rose 0.1% to $3.4905.
Euro zone
European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.05%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.98%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.58%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 declined 0.52%, French CAC 40 rose 0.02% and London’s FTSE 100 gained 1.23%.
Retail sales in Germany climbed 2.6% in October versus a revised 1.9% decline in September.
Economics
US private sector created 307,000 jobs in November, the ADP reported. However, analysts were expecting an addition of 410,000 jobs.
US crude-oil inventories declined 700,000 barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said.
The Federal Open Market Committee will release its latest Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.
New York Fed President John Williams will speak at 1:00 p.m. ET.
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