Mid-afternoon market update: Nasdaq turns lower, Sesen Bio shares surge

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.46% to 35,619.52 while the NASDAQ fell 0.19% to 15,100.51. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.28% to 4,532.23.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 45,996,500 cases with around 748,650 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 34,108,990 cases and 452,680 deaths, while Brazil reported over 21,664,870 COVID-19 cases with 603,900 deaths. In total, there were at least 242,448,790 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 4,931,290 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares gained by 1.8% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included The AES Corporation AES +2.96% (Get Free Alerts for AES), up 3% and Empresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora Norte Sociedad Anónima EDN +7.42% (Get Free Alerts for EDN) up 7%.

In trading on Wednesday, information technology shares fell 0.5%.

Top Headline

Verizon Communications Inc. VZ +2.26% reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter and raised its FY21 forecast.

Verizon reported quarterly earnings of $1.41 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.36 per share. The company reported quarterly revenue of $32.90 billion, versus analysts’ estimates of $33.28 billion.

Verizon raised its FY21 adjusted EPS guidance from $5.25-$5.35 to $5.35-$5.40.

Equities Trading UP

Radius Health, Inc. RDUS +17.52% shares shot up 20% to $18.57. The Menarini Group and Radius Health announced topline results from the EMERALD Phase 3 study evaluating elacestrant as second- or third-line monotherapy in ER+/HER2- advanced/metastatic breast cancer patients.

Shares of Sesen Bio, Inc. SESN +28.71% got a boost, shooting 33% to $1.34. The FDA granted Sesen Bio’s request for a Type A meeting to discuss the Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC) issues raised in the Complete Response Letter for Vicineum for BCG-unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer.

Canaan Inc. CAN +17.46% shares were also up, gaining 18% to $8.70 after Bitcoin climbed above $65,000 amid the debut of a bitcoin futures ETF.

Equities Trading DOWN

ATI Physical Therapy, Inc. ATIP -21.51% shares tumbled 21% to $2.8701 after the company reported preliminary Q3 revenue of approximately $159 million, well below the consensus of $170.42 million.

Shares of Healthcare Services Group, Inc. HCSG -15.11% were down 14% to $19.97 after the company reported a decline in Q3 earnings and sales results.

Novavax, Inc. NVAX -15.96% was down, falling 16% to $134.41 after Politico reported the company may be facing more serious manufacturing issues with its COVID-19 vaccine candidate. The company is finding it tough to meet the purity standards set forth by the Food and Drug Administration and its vaccine candidate could reach full licensure only by the end of 2022, the report said.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.8% to $83.58, while gold traded up 0.8% to $1,784.10.

Silver traded up 2.2% Wednesday to $24.41 while copper rose 0.6% to $4.7315.

Euro zone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.32%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.24% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.05%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.08%, French CAC 40 gained 0.54% and Italy’s FTSE MIB gained 0.94%.

The annual inflation rate in the Eurozone was confirmed at 3.4% in September, while current account surplus shrank to EUR 17.6 billion in August from EUR 24.9 billion.

The annual inflation rate in the UK fell to 3.1% in September from a nine-year high level of 3.2% in August, while annual rate of output inflation rose to 6.7% in September. German producer prices rose by 14.2% from a year ago in September. Italy’s current account surplus shrank to EUR 5.03 billion in August from EUR 6.99 billion in the year-ago month.

Economics

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

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

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly will speak at 8:35 p.m. ET.