Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 1.62% to 30,436.02 while the NASDAQ fell 1.78% to 13,383.42. The S&P also fell, dropping 2.05% to 3,770.84.
The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 25,443,870 cases with around 425,220 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 10,689,520 confirmed cases and 153,720 deaths, while Brazil reported over 8,933,350 COVID-19 cases with 218,870 deaths. In total, there were at least 100,348,780 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 2,160,150 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Energy shares climbed 0.1% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Transocean Ltd. RIG, up 38%, and Peabody Energy Corporation BTU, up 32%.
In trading on Wednesday, communication services shares dipped 2.6%.
Top Headline
AT&T Inc. T reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.
AT&T reported quarterly earnings of $0.75 per share, beating analysts’ expectations of $0.73 per share. The company posted revenue of $45.70 billion, versus estimates of $44.55 billion.
Equities Trading UP
AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. AMC shares shot up 287% to $19.20 amid continued momentum driven by retail investor interest in the stock. AMC on Monday also announced it had successfully raised $1 billion in fresh capital since December.
Shares of Express, Inc. EXPR got a boost, shooting 245% to $10.48 amid continued momentum driven by retail investor interest in the stock.
Koss Corporation KOSS shares were also up, gaining 271% to $37.11. Koss shares jumped around 67% on Tuesday as the stock gained retail investor attention on social media.
Check out these big movers of the day
Equities Trading DOWN
EZGO Technologies Ltd. EZGO shares tumbled 52% to $8.69. EZGO Technologies shares jumped around 353% on Tuesday after the company reported pricing of its firm commitment IPO of 2,800,000 shares at $4.00 per share.
Shares of Agilysys, Inc. AGYS were down 17% to $41.54 after reporting Q3 results. Craig-Hallum downgraded Agilysys from Buy to Hold and raised the price target from $32 to $45.
Globus Maritime Limited GLBS was down, falling 20% to $5.57 after the company announced pricing of $16.3 million registered direct offering at $6.25 per share.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.5% to $52.86, while gold traded down 0.3% to $1,844.90.
Silver traded down 0.4% Wednesday to $25.43 while copper fell 1.7% to $3.5595.
Euro zone
European shares closed lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 1.16%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.41% and the German DAX 30 dropped 1.81%. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 declined 1.16%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 1.3% and Italy’s FTSE MIB dipped 1.47%.
Consumer confidence in France slipped to 92 in January versus 95 in December, while Germany’s consumer climate indicator fell to an eight-month low reading of -15.6 for February.
Economics
US durable goods orders rose 0.2% in December versus a revised 1.2% growth in the prior month.
US crude oil inventories declined by 9.9 million barrels last wee, the Energy Information Administration said.
The Federal Reserve maintained key interest rate near zero.
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