Mid-afternoon market update: Dow rises over 100 points, CTI Biopharma shares plummet

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.39% to 34,617.2 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.17% to 15,564.73. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.68% to 4,597.96.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 49,428,910 cases with around 803,040 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 34,596,770 cases and 469,240 deaths, while Brazil reported over 22,094,450 COVID-19 cases with 614,750 deaths. In total, there were at least 263,226,130 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 5,236,980 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares climbed 1.8% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Pampa Energía S.A. PAM +8.41% (Get Free Alerts for PAM), up 8% and Central Puerto S.A. CEPU +7.03% (Get Free Alerts for CEPU) up 5%.

In trading on Wednesday, communication services shares rose by just 0.1%.

Top Headline

G-III Apparel Group, Ltd. GIII +3.9% reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter on Wednesday.

G-III Apparel Group reported quarterly earnings of $2.16 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.78 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $1.02 billion, versus expectations of 1.01 billion.

G-III said it sees FY22 EPS of $3.65-$3.75 and sales of $2.77 billion.

Equities Trading UP

OceanPal Inc. OP +44.44% shares shot up 51% to $7.90 after completion of spinoff from Diana Shipping on Tuesday.

Shares of Arbutus Biopharma Corporation ABUS +37.5% got a boost, shooting 61% to $5.14 on above-average volume on Wednesday. The Patent Trial and Appeals Board has turned down Moderna's appeal to invalidate two of Arbutus' patents on drug-delivery technology used in the former's COVID-19 vaccine.

Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. BBW +29.43% shares were also up, gaining 34% to $22.89 after the company reported better-than-expected Q3 results and raised FY21 guidance. The company also announced a special dividend and a share buyback.

Equities Trading DOWN

BeyondSpring Inc. BYSI -59.36% shares tumbled 59% to $5.29 after the company announced the FDA issued a Complete Response Letter related to the company's plinabulin New Drug Application. HC Wainwright & Co. downgraded BeyondSpring from Buy to Neutral.

Shares of CTI BioPharma Corp. CTIC -21.33% were down 20% to $1.7899 after the company said the FDA has extended the review period for the new drug application for pacritinib for the treatment of adult patients with intermediate or high-risk primary or secondary myelofibrosis with a baseline platelet count of less than 50 × 109/L.

Aditxt, Inc. ADTX -27.61% was down, falling 26% to $0.8647 after the company announced pricing of a $17.4 million firm commitment public offering of common stock.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.6% to $66.56, while gold traded up 0.4% to $1,784.40.

Silver traded down 1.8% Wednesday to $22.405 while copper fell 1% to $4.2385.

Euro zone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 1.71%, the Spanish Ibex Index gained 1.78% and the German DAX 30 climbed 2.47%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 rose 1.55%, French CAC 40 climbed 2.39% and Italy’s FTSE MIB jumped 2.16%.

Italy’s manufacturing PMI climbed to an all-time high of 62.8 in November. Germany’s manufacturing PMI fell to 57.4 in November from a preliminary reading of 57.6, while retail trade fell 0.3% in October. The IHS Markit Spain manufacturing PMI fell to 57.1 in November from 57.4 in the prior month. Annual house price growth in the UK rose to 10.0% in November from 9.9% in the earlier month.

Economics

Private businesses hired 534,000 workers in November, versus a revised 570,000 rise in the previous month.

The IHS Markit manufacturing PMI slipped to 58.3 in November from a preliminary reading of 59.1.

The ISM manufacturing composite index climbed to 61.1 in November from previous reading of 60.8.

US construction spending rose 0.2% for October.

US crude oil inventories dropped 0.91 million barrels in the week ending November 26th, the Energy Information Administration said.

The Federal Open Market Committee released its latest Beige Book report.