Mid-Afteroon Market Update: Dow Tumbles 500 Points As Fed Leaves Rates Unchanged

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. (NYSE: RIG), up 38%, and Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE: BTU), up 32%.

In trading on Wednesday, communication services shares dipped 2.6%.

Top Headline

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: 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. (NYSE: 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. (NYSE: EXPR) got a boost, shooting 245% to $10.48 amid continued momentum driven by retail investor interest in the stock.

Koss Corporation (NASDAQ: 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. (NASDAQ: 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. (NASDAQ: 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 (NASDAQ: 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.

Check out the full economic calendar here