Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Slightly Higher; IHS Markit Profit Beats Views

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.08% to 31,093.91 while the NASDAQ rose 0.22% to 13,101.04. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.07% to 3,803.73.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 22,848,700 cases with around 380,820 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 10,495,140 confirmed cases and 151,520 deaths, while Brazil reported over 8,195,630 COVID-19 cases with 204,690 deaths. In total, there were at least 91,691,960 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 1,964,760 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares gained by 1% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Ellomay Capital Ltd. ELLO, up 3%, and NextEra Energy, Inc. NEE, up 2%.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell 0.7%.

Top Headline

IHS Markit Ltd INFO reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter.

IHS Markit reported quarterly earnings of $0.72 per share, beating analysts’ expectations of $0.67 per share. The company posted sales of $1.11 billion, versus estimates of $1.11 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Live Ventures Incorporated LIVE shares shot up 127% to $28.41 after the company swung to a profit in the fourth quarter.

Shares of Qilian International Holding Group Limited QLI got a boost, shooting 55% to $15.50. Qilian International shares jumped 100% on Tuesday after the company priced its IPO at $5 per share.

Synlogic, Inc. SYBX shares were also up, gaining 42% to $3.41. Chardan Capital maintained Synlogic with a Buy and raised the price target from $5 to $10.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Asia Pacific Wire & Cable Corporation Limited APWC shares tumbled 26% to $3.51 after surging over 95% on Tuesday. The company, last week, reported a profit for its latest quarter.

Shares of CPS Technologies Corporation CPSH were down 17% to $5.70 after climbing around 114% on Tuesday. The company, last week, was granted EU patent titled 'Scalable modular design of 48-volt li-ion battery management system.'

Provention Bio, Inc. PRVB was down, falling 16% to $16.31 as the company said it has commenced an underwritten public offering of 6 million shares of its common stock. All of the shares to be sold in the offering are to be sold by the company.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.1% to $53.28, while gold traded up 0.5% to $1,853.90.

Silver traded up 0.1% Wednesday to $25.465 while copper rose 0.4% to $3.6185.

Euro zone

European shares were slightly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.1%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.1% and the German DAX 30 declined 0.1%. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 rose 0.1%, London’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.1% and Italy’s FTSE MIB gained 0.1%. German wholesale prices fell 1.2% year-over-year in December.

Economics

Annual inflation rate rose to 1.4% in December from 1.2 percent in November.

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

Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard will speak at 1:00 p.m. ET.

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

Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick Harker is set to speak at 2:00 p.m. ET.

The Federal Open Market Committee will release its Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.

The U.S. Treasury’s budget statement for December will be released at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Vice Chair Richard Clarida will speak at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Check out the full economic calendar here