Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Higher; Paychex Tops Q2 Views

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.62% to 30,201.90 while the NASDAQ fell 0.03% to 12,803.99. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.35% to 3,700.15.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 18,237,190 cases with around 322,840 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 10,099,060 confirmed cases and 146,440 deaths, while Brazil reported over 7,318,820 COVID-19 cases with 188,250 deaths. In total, there were at least 78,114,310 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 1,719,430 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed 2.2% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Clean Energy Fuels Corp. CLNE, up 15%, and Kosmos Energy Ltd. KOS, up 12%.

In trading on Wednesday, information technology shares fell 0.3%.

Top Headline

Paychex, Inc. PAYX reported better-than-expected earnings for its second quarter.

Paychex posted quarterly earnings of $0.73 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $0.66 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $983.70 million, versus expectations of $954.00 million.

Paychex said it now expects 2021 adjusted EPS to decline 1% to 4%, versus previous forecast for a 6% to 8% drop.

Equities Trading UP

Scopus BioPharma Inc. SCPS shares shot up 61% to $21.10 after dropping 19% on Tuesday. Scopus Biopharma, last week, priced its IPO at $5.5 per share.

Shares of Foresight Autonomous Holdings Ltd. FRSX got a boost, shooting 42% to $4.57. The strength appears to be in reaction to reports of Apple working on a self-driving EV. Foresight's technology can be used in autonomous vehicles.

Perion Network Ltd. PERI shares were also up, gaining 29% to $17.28. Perion Network, earlier during the month, raised its Q4 sales guidance.

Equities Trading DOWN

Cellectar Biosciences, Inc. CLRB shares tumbled 31% to $1.91 after the company priced a $24.5 million offering at $1.35 per share.

Shares of CRH Medical Corporation CRHM were down 25% to $ 2.07 after the company issued a customer update. The company said its largest customer, United Digestive, does not intend to renew its professional services agreements.

MicroVision, Inc. MVIS was down, falling 18% to $7.56. MicroVision shares jumped over 60% on Tuesday after a new patent was issued to the company that covers “scanning 3D imaging device with power control using multiple wavelengths.”

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.2% to $47.09, while gold traded down 0.1% to $1,870.20.

Silver traded up 0.2% Wednesday to $25.59 while copper rose 0.7% to $3.5440.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today following the reports that a Brexit trade deal could be struck on Wednesday. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.2%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.5%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.4%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 gained 0.5%, French CAC 40 climbed 0.4% and London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.2%.

Import prices in Germany declined 3.8% year-over-year in November. Spain’s GDP grew 16.4% quarter-over-quarter but declined 9% year-over-year in the third quarter.

Economics

US durable goods orders increased 0.9% for November.

US initial jobless claims dropped to 803,000 in the week ended December 19, from 892,000 in the prior week.

Personal income declined 1.1% in November, while personal spending dropped 0.4%.

USA house price index rose 1.5% in October.

New home sales climbed 11% to an annual rate of 841,000 in November.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index was revised lower to 80.7 in December versus a preliminary reading of 81.4.

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 Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage will be released at 12:00 p.m. ET.