Mid-Afternoon Market Update: NeuroMetrix Climbs Following Announcement Of Collaboration With GlaxoSmithKline; Aerohive Networks Shares Drop

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 1 percent to 26,049.92 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.85 percent to 7,285.26. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.83 percent to 2,799.51.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Wednesday afternoon, the non-cyclical consumer goods & services sector proved to be a source of strength for the market.

In trading on Wednesday, telecommunications services shares fell 0.01 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Telecom Italia SpA (ADR) TI 2.03%, down 2 percent, andInternet Gold Golden Lines Ltd IGLD 1.25% down 3 percent.

Top Headline

Goldman Sachs Group Inc C 0.55% reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.

Goldman Sachs posted adjusted earnings of $5.68 per share in the quarter on revenue of $7.83 billion which exceeded Wall Street's expectations for $4.92 per share and $7.61 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Juno Therapeutics Inc JUNO 51.08% shares shot up 49 percent to $67.76 in reaction to an unconfirmed Dow Jones report that Celgene Corporation CELG 2.66% is interested in acquiring the bio pharmaceutical company that develops cellular immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer.

Shares of AEterna Zentaris Inc. (USA) AEZS 16.18% got a boost, shooting up 22 percent to $2.53 after the company disclosed that it has entered into a licensing deal with Strongbridge for Macrilen in the United States and Canada.

Neurometrix Inc NURO 21.88% shares were also up, gaining 23 percent to $2.13. NeuroMetrix and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare reported a strategic collaboration for the development and expansion of access to Quell Wearable Pain Relief Technology.

Equities Trading DOWN

Aerohive Networks Inc HIVE 28.6% shares dropped 29 percent to $4.05 after the company cut its Q4 sales outlook.

Shares of HTG Molecular Diagnostics Inc HTGM 18.43% were down 14 percent to $3.01. HTG Molecular Diagnostics reported that the company is offering 10 million shares of common stock.

A10 Networks Inc ATEN 13.06% was down, falling around 15 percent to $6.18 after the company narrowed fourth quarter sales outlook from 1 cents-7 cents to 5 cents-6 cents.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.36 percent to $63.96 while gold traded down 0.12 percent to $1,335.50.

Silver traded down 0.37 percent Wednesday to $17.125, while copper fell 1.03 percent to $3.1865.

Eurozone

European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 0.10 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index slipped 0.44 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.08 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 0.47 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.36 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.39 percent.

Economics

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index declined 0.3 percent during the first two weeks of January versus December.

U.S. industrial production rose 0.9 percent for December, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.4 percent growth.

The NAHB housing market index declined 2 points to 72 in January. However, economists were projecting a reading of 73.

The Federal Open Market Committee released its Beige Book report.

Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans is set to speak in Palm Beach, Florida at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan will speak in Palm Beach, Florida at 3:15 p.m. ET.

The Treasury International Capital report for November is schedule for release at 4:00 p.m. ET.

Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester is set to speak in New Brunswick, New Jersey at 4:30 p.m. ET.