Mid-Day Market Update: Obalon Therapeutics Jumps On Merger News; Document Security Systems Shares Slide

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.49% to 31,083.43 while the NASDAQ rose 1.71% to 13,422.25. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.04% to 3,838.39.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 24,254,280 cases with around 401,770 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 10,595,630 confirmed cases and 152,710 deaths, while Brazil reported over 8,573,860 COVID-19 cases with 211,490 deaths. In total, there were at least 96,269,160 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 2,059,560 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors


Communication services shares gained by 3.3% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Qutoutiao Inc - ADR QTT, up 14%, and Netflix Inc
NFLX, up 14%.


In trading on Wednesday, financial shares fell 0.8%.


Top Headline

Morgan Stanley MS reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.

Morgan Stanley reported quarterly earnings of $1.92 per share, beating analysts’ expectations of $1.27 per share. The company posted managed revenue of $13.60 billion, versus estimates of $11.54 billion.

 

Equities Trading UP


Obalon Therapeutics, Inc. OBLN shares shot up 291% to $6.30 after the company announced a merger agreement with ReShape Lifesciences.


Shares of Inuvo, Inc. INUV got a boost, shooting 29% to $1.8768 after the company priced a $6.25 million common stock offering. The company’s shared jumped 123% on Tuesday.


Caladrius Biosciences, Inc. CLBS shares were also up, gaining 131% to $3.78. Caladrius Biosciences, on Tuesday, said it treated first patient in Phase 2b FREEDOM trial of CLBS16 for the treatment of coronary microvascular dysfunction.


Check out these big movers of the day


Equities Trading DOWN

Document Security Systems, Inc. DSS shares tumbled 28% to $3.96 after the company priced a $24 million upsized public offering of common stock.

Shares of China Natural Resources, Inc. CHNR were down 27% to $1.6914 after the company reported an offering of $7.3 million of common shares at $1.85 per share.

Gevo, Inc. GEVO was down, falling 25% to $8.31 as the company reported a 43,750,000 share registered direct common stock offering at $8 per share. Gevo shares jumped 72% on Tuesday after the company co-founder, Frances Arnold, a Nobel-Prize recipient was appointed to President-Elect Joe Biden’s Science Team.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 0.7% to $53.35, while gold traded up 1.4% to $1,865.50.


Silver traded up 1.7% Wednesday to $25.74 while copper rose 0.2% to $3.64.


Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.6%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.24% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.61%. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 rose 0.41%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.19% and Italy’s FTSE MIB gained 0.71%.

UK’s producer prices declined 0.4% year-over-year, while inflation rate increased to 0.6% in December. Germany's producer prices rose 0.2% year-over-year in December.


Economics


The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index fell 2.5% during the first two weeks of January versus December.


The NAHB housing market index declined 3 points to a reading of 83 in January.


The Treasury is set to auction 20-year bonds at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Check out the full economic calendar here

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Date
ticker
name
Actual EPS
EPS Surprise
Actual Rev
Rev Surprise
Posted In: EarningsNewsPenny StocksEurozoneCommoditiesSmall CapGlobalIntraday UpdateMarketsMid-Day Market Update
Benzinga simplifies the market for smarter investing

Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.

Join Now: Free!

Loading...