Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Crude Oil Down 3.5%; Endo International Shares Surge After Strong Q2 Results

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.13 percent to 25,596.35 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.11 percent to 7,892.72. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.04 percent to 2,859.65.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Wednesday afternoon, the financial shares climbed 0.41 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Beneficial Bancorp, Inc. BNCL 12.12% up 13 percent, and On Deck Capital, Inc. ONDK 6.95% up 8 percent.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell 0.87 percent.

Top Headline

CVS Health Corp CVS 4.2% reported better-than-expected earnings for its second quarter and raised its FY18 earnings guidance.

The retail pharmacy and health care company said it earned $1.69 per share in the second quarter on revenue of $46.7 billion versus expectations of $1.61 per share and $46.34 billion. CVS now expects FY18 adjusted earnings of $6.98-$7.08 per share, versus earlier outlook of $6.87-$7.08 per share.

The company also updated its pending merger with Aetna Inc AET 2.94% and said it expects to close in early Q4 if not earlier.

Equities Trading UP

Ability Inc. ABIL 142.95% shares shot up 177 percent to $7.82.

Shares of 3D Systems Corporation DDD 35.79% got a boost, shooting up 35 percent to $18.26 following upbeat Q2 earnings.

Endo International plc ENDP 26.56% shares were also up, gaining 29 percent to $16.32 after the company posted upbeat Q2 results and raised its 2018 forecast.

Equities Trading DOWN

Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. AMPE 76.16% shares dropped 76 percent to $0.70 after the FDA said the company's trial for AP-0003-C was not adequate. The FDA is recommending Ampio performs a randomized trial.

Shares of Extreme Networks, Inc. EXTR 31.81% were down 32 percent to $6.13 after the company posted downbeat Q4 sales and issued a weak forecast for the first quarter.

Core Molding Technologies, Inc. CMT 25.56% was down, falling around 27 percent to $10.00 following Q2 results. Core Molding posted Q2 earnings of $0.06 per share on sales of $68.6 million.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 3.5 percent to $66.75 while gold traded up 0.28 percent to $1,221.70.

Silver traded up 0.50 percent Wednesday to $15.45, while copper rose 0.13 to $2.7555.

Eurozone

European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.20 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.26 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.29 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX slipped 0.12 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.35 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.75 percent.

Economics

Domestic crude supplies slipped 1.351 million barrels for the week ended Aug. 3, the Energy Information Administration reported. Analysts projected a decline of 2.3 million barrels. Gasoline stockpiles gained 2.9 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles rose 1.2 million barrels for the week.