Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.39% to 30,453.07 while the NASDAQ rose 0.26% to 12,883.23. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.30% to 3,738.16.
The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 19,515,520 cases with around 338,650 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 10,244,850 confirmed cases and 148,430 deaths, while Brazil reported over 7,563,550 COVID-19 cases with 192,680 deaths. In total, there were at least 82,073,260 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 1,792,580 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Energy shares climbed 1.5% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included CONSOL Energy Inc. CEIX, up 10%, and Matador Resources Company MTDR, up 5%.
In trading on Wednesday, communication services shares fell 0.2%.
Top Headline
The COVID-19 vaccine co-developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca plc AZN received the UK approval for emergency supply on Wednesday.
The U.K health department accepted the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) recommendation to authorize AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, which showed efficacy between 70% and 90%.
Equities Trading UP
Indonesia Energy Corporation Limited INDO shares shot up 133% to $10.79 after jumping over 22% on Tuesday.
Shares of Conifer Holdings, Inc. CNFR got a boost, shooting 53% to $4.0635 after gaining around 8% on Tuesday.
Net Element, Inc. NETE shares were also up, gaining 39% to $15.72 after the company's merger partner, Mullen Technologies, received a letter of intent for a purchase order of 1,500 MX-05 electric vehicles.
Equities Trading DOWN
B.O.S. Better Online Solutions Ltd. BOSC shares tumbled 20% to $2.30 after the company reported a $2 million common stock offering.
Shares of Equillium, Inc. EQ were down 20% to $4.9750 after jumping over 41% on Tuesday. Equillium, last week, named Dolca Thomas, M.D., as its executive vice president of research and development and chief medical officer.
Osmotica Pharmaceuticals plc OSMT was down, falling 18% to $4.341 as the company said the FDA issued a complete response letter for its NDA seeking approval for the investigational agent arbaclofen extended release tablets to treat spasticity resulting from multiple sclerosis. The FDA made a number of recommendations, including that the company conduct a new study in order to provide substantial evidence of efficacy of arbaclofen, Osmotica said.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.8% to $48.40, while gold traded up 0.1% to $1,883.60.
Silver traded up 1% Wednesday to $26.475 while copper rose 0.1% to $3.5605.
Euro zone
European shares were higher today after AstraZeneca plc AZN disclosed that its COVID-19 vaccine has received approval in the United Kingdom for emergency use. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.2%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.2% and German DAX 30 gained 0.1%. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 rose 0.1%, London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.2% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.4%.
Economics
The US goods trade deficit increased to $84.82 billion in November versus $80.42 billion in the prior month, the advance estimate showed.
Wholesale inventories declined 0.1% in November versus a revised 1.2% increase in October.
The Chicago PMI rose 1.3 points to a reading of 59.5 in December.
US pending home sales fell 2.6% in November.
The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Data on farm prices for November will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.
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