Mid-afternoon market update: Dow jumps 250 points, Sleep number shares slide after Q2 results

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.73% to 34,765.42 while the NASDAQ rose 0.66% to 14,594.38. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.69% to 4,352.90.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 34,174,770 cases with around 609,520 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 31,216,330 cases and 418,480 deaths, while Brazil reported over 19,419,430 COVID-19 cases with 544,180 deaths. In total, there were at least 191,495,260 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 4,119,420 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed 3.8% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Transocean Ltd. RIG 12.74%, up 12%, and Peabody Energy Corporation BTU 17.23%, up 16%.

In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares fell 0.6%.

Top Headline

The Coca-Cola Company KO 1.28% reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter.

Coca-Cola reported quarterly adjusted earnings of $0.68 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $0.55 per share. The company’s revenue came in at $10.10 billion, versus expectations of $9.25 billion.

Coca-Cola said it expects FY21 organic sales growth of 12%-14%.

Equities Trading UP

Chembio Diagnostics, Inc. CEMI 151.7% shares shot up 218% to $6.56 after the company received a $28.3 million purchase order from Brazil's Bio-Manguinhos to purchase Chembio's DPP SARS-CoV-2 Antigen tests for delivery during 2021.

Shares of NeuroMetrix, Inc. NURO 111.06% got a boost, shooting 153% to $25.44. NeuroMetrix shares jumped around 208% on Tuesday after the company announced that its Quell device has received Breakthrough Designation from the FDA for treating the symptoms of fibromyalgia in adults.

Lexaria Bioscience Corp. LEXX 28.83% shares were also up, gaining 60% to $10.55 after the company announced that its tolerability and pharmacokinetic study VIRAL-A20-3 has been completed with positive results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Staffing 360 Solutions, Inc. STAF 19.33% shares tumbled 19% to $3.0819 after the company announced a $7.58 million registered direct offering of common stock priced at-the-market under Nasdaq rules.

Shares of Sleep Number Corporation SNBR 13.25% were down 13% to $97.39 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q2 results.

Orbital Energy Group, Inc. OEG 20.28% was down, falling 18% to $3.7999 after the company reported a $38 million registered direct offering.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 4.6% to $70.31, while gold traded down 0.4% to $1,803.40.

Silver traded up 1.1% Wednesday to $25.27 while copper rose 0.3% to $4.2760.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 1.65%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 2.5% and the German DAX 30 gained 1.36%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 rose 1.7%, French CAC 40 surged 1.85% and Italy’s FTSE MIB climbed 2.36%.

Construction output in Italy surged 32.6% year-over-year in May, while industrial sales slipped 1% from a month ago in May. Public sector net borrowing in the UK fell to GBP 22.8 billion in June.

Economics

US crude oil inventories climbed 2.108 million barrels in the July 16th week, the Energy Information Administration said.