Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow jumps over 500 points; ContextLogic shares lunge

Toward the end of trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 1.57% to 34,115.36 while the NASDAQ rose 0.78% to 13,133.31. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.43% to 4,121.09.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 32,815,400 cases with around 583,690 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 23,703,660 cases and 258,310 deaths, while Brazil reported over 15,359,390 COVID-19 cases with 428,030 deaths. In total, there were at least 160,505,170 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 3,333,070 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares climbed 1.7% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Centrais Elétricas Brasileiras S.A. - Eletrobrás EBR 7.18%, up 6%, and Global Water Resources, Inc. GWRS 5.22%, up 5%.

In trading on Thursday, energy shares fell 2%.

Top Headline

US initial jobless claims fell by 34,000 to 473,000 in the week ending May 8, recording the lowest level since the covid-19 pandemic first hit the market in March 2020.

Equities Trading UP

Flux Power Holdings, Inc. FLUX 17.56% shares shot up 15% to $8.81 after the company reported better-than-expected Q3 results.

Shares of Reliance Global Group, Inc. RELI 10.45% got a boost, shooting 15% to $3.4050 after the company said it has acquired a premier health insurance agency, J.P. Kush and Associates, Inc.

MultiPlan Corporation MPLN 17.42% shares were also up, gaining 16% to $7.15 after the company reported better-than-expected Q1 results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Zovio Inc ZVO 39.48% shares tumbled 39% to $2.13 after the company reported wider-than-expected Q1 loss.

Shares of ContextLogic Inc. WISH 27.33% were down 25% to $8.66 after the company reported Q1 earnings results.

Evoke Pharma, Inc. EVOK 22.49% was down, falling 24% to $1.16 after the company reported downbeat Q1 results.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 3.8% to $63.54, while gold traded up 0.1% to $1,823.70.

Silver traded down 0.7% Thursday to $27.06 while copper fell 1.3% to $4.6760.

Euro zone

European shares closed mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.14%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.46% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.33%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.59%, French CAC 40 rose 0.14% and Italy’s FTSE MIB gained 0.14%.

Economics

US initial jobless claims fell by 34,000 to 473,000 in the week ending May 8, recording the lowest level since the covid-19 pandemic first hit the market in March 2020.

Producer prices increased 0.6% in April following a 1% increase in March.

US natural-gas supplies rose 71 billion cubic feet last week, the Energy Information Administration said.

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard is set to speak at 4:00 p.m. ET.