Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow dips 500 points; Ra Medical Systems shares spike higher

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 1.47% to 33,769 while the NASDAQ fell 2.21% to 13,093.66. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.66% to 4,083.31.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 32,779,410 cases with around 582,840 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 23,340,930 cases and 254,190 deaths, while Brazil reported over 15,282,700 COVID-19 cases with 425,540 deaths. In total, there were at least 159,732,340 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 3,319,160 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed 1.6% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included CVR Energy, Inc. CVI 8.64%, up 10%, and SilverBow Resources, Inc. SBOW 9.66%, up 9%.

In trading on Wednesday, consumer discretionary shares dipped 2.6%.

Top Headline

The annual inflation rate in the US surged to 4.2% in April from 2.6% in the previous month. However, analysts were expecting a reading of 3.6%.

Equities Trading UP

Ra Medical Systems, Inc. RMED 17.88% shares shot up 24% to $4.12 after the company reported better-than-expected Q1 results.

Shares of Lucira Health, Inc. LHDX 44.2% got a boost, shooting 17% to $5.95. Lucira said its Lucira CHECK IT COVID-19 test kit is now available on Amazon, Inc. in the US.

Harrow Health, Inc. HROW 16.41% shares were also up, gaining 19% to $9.30 after the company reported better-than-expected Q1 results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Array Technologies, Inc. ARRY 46.05% shares tumbled 37% to $15.67 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q1 earnings. The company also reported it is unable to affirm previously provided guidance for FY21. Roth Capital, Barclays and Piper Sandler downgraded the stock.

Shares of SelectQuote, Inc. SLQT 19.97% were down 19% to $22.09 after the company reported downbeat Q3 earnings.

Sonim Technologies, Inc. SONM 22.76% was down, falling 22% to $0.4850 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q1 results.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.7% to $66.36, while gold traded down 0.7% to $1,823.10.

Silver traded down 1.5% Wednesday to $27.255 while copper fell 0.4% to $4.7415.

Euro zone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.30%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.23% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.2%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.82%, French CAC 40 rose 0.19% and Italy’s FTSE MIB rose 0.23%.

Manufacturing production in the UK surged 4.8% year-over-year in March, while industrial production rose 1.8% month-over-month. British gross domestic product contracted by 6.1% year-over-year during the first quarter, while trade deficit widened to GBP 2.0 billion in March from revised GBP 0.9 billion in the previous month. French annual inflation rate rose to a 14-month high of 1.2% for April, compared to 1.1% in March.

Economics

The annual inflation rate in the US surged to 4.2% in April from 2.6% in the previous month. However, analysts were expecting a reading of 3.6%.

US crude-oil inventories dropped 400,000 barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said.

The US government recorded a budget deficit of $226 billion in April versus a $738 billion gap in the year-ago period.