Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Nasdaq Down Over 500 Points; Crude Oil Falls 2.5%

U.S. stocks extended losses toward the end of trading, with the Nasdaq Composite dipping more than 500 points on Wednesday.

The Dow traded down 3.25% to 31,594.20 while the NASDAQ fell 4.35% to 11,462.88. The S&P also fell, dropping, 3.69% to 3,937.96.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares fell by just 0.7% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Huaneng Power International, Inc. HNP, up 5% and Unitil Corporation UTL up 4%.

In trading on Wednesday, consumer discretionary shares dipped 6.8%.

Top Headline

Target Corporation TGT reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its first quarter on Wednesday.

Target reported first-quarter FY22 sales growth of 4% year-on-year to $25.17 billion, beating the consensus of $24.37 billion. Adjusted EPS of $2.19 missed the consensus of $3.07.

Target continues to expect FY22 revenue growth of low- to mid-single-digit. The company expects an FY22 operating income margin rate of around 6%.

Equities Trading UP

Decisionpoint Systems, Inc. DPSI shares shot up 123% to $10.65. DecisionPoint Systems recently reported first-quarter FY22 revenue growth of 22.7% year-on-year to $19.7 million.

Shares of Bright Green Corp. BGXX got a boost, shooting 30% to $32.82. Bright Green, went public on the NASDAQ Tuesday, becoming the first U.S. plant-touching company to list on a major U.S. stock exchange.

Armstrong Flooring, Inc. AFI shares were also up, gaining 55% to $0.4564 after receiving approval for additional financing.

Equities Trading DOWN

Target Corporation TGT shares tumbled 28% to $156.08 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q1 earnings and also reported a drop in operating income margin rate.

Shares of Visionary Education Technology Holdings Group Inc. VEDU were down 76% to $6.10. Visionary Education recently priced its IPO at $4 per share.

Baudax Bio, Inc. BXRX was down, falling 30% to $0.8298 after the company reported a $2.0 million registered direct offering priced at-the-market under Nasdaq rules.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 2.5% to $109.56, while gold traded down 0.2% to $1,815.10.

Silver traded down 1.4% to $21.455 on Wednesday while copper fell 1.9% to $4.1575.

Euro zone

European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 1.14%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 1.07% and Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.01%. The German DAX dipped 1.26%, French CAC 40 fell 1.20% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.89%.

UK’s producer inflation increased 14% year-over-year in April from 11.9% in March, while annual inflation rate accelerated to 9% in April, the highest since 1982. Passenger car sales in the European Union dipped 20.6% year-over-year to 684,506 units in April.

Economics

Housing starts dropped 0.2% from a month ago to an annualized rate of 1.724 million units in April following a revised 2.8% decline in March. Building permits declined 3.2% to an annual rate of 1.819 million in April.

US crude oil inventories unexpectedly dropped by 3.394 million barrels in the week ended May 13, following an 8.487-million-barrel increase in the prior week, the Energy Information Administration said.

Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker is set to speak at 4:00 p.m. ET.

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COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 84,473,440 cases with around 1,027,280 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 43,127,190 cases and 524,290 deaths, while Brazil reported over 30,728,280 COVID-19 cases with 665,270 deaths. In total, there were at least 524,246,130 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,292,850 deaths.