Mid-afternoon market update: US stocks turn positive, Hovnanian Enterprises shares slide

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.08% to 34,342.65 while the NASDAQ rose 0.38% to 14,489.14. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.19% to 4,353.99.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 43,950,080 cases with around 705,280 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 33,871,880 cases and 449,530 deaths, while Brazil reported over 21,499,070 COVID-19 cases with 598,820 deaths. In total, there were at least 235,908,850 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 4,818,980 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares gained by 0.7% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Empresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora Norte Sociedad Anónima EDN +1.14% (Get Free Alerts for EDN), up 3% and Sunnova Energy International Inc. NOVA +1.36% (Get Free Alerts for NOVA) up 2.5%.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares dipped 1%.

Top Headline

Acuity Brands, Inc. AYI +10.95% reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.

Acuity Brands reported quarterly adjusted earnings of $3.27 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $2.85 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $992.70 million versus expectations of $963.96 million.

Equities Trading UP

Voyager Therapeutics, Inc. VYGR +56.07% shares shot up 57% to $3.8901 after the company announced licensing option agreement with Pfizer for capsids generated from Voyager's RNA-driven TRACER screening technology.

Shares of Acer Therapeutics Inc. ACER +14.86% got a boost, shooting 15% to $2.8650. The FDA has accepted for review Acer Therapeutics and its partner, Relief Therapeutics Holding’s marketing application for ACER-001 (sodium phenylbutyrate) for Urea Cycle Disorders (UCDs).

Acuity Brands, Inc. AYI +10.95% shares were also up, gaining 11% to $196.57 after reporting better-than-expected Q4 results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Manchester United plc MANU +14.25% shares tumbled 15% to $16.63. Manchester United reported an offering of 9.5 million shares by selling shareholders Kevin Glazer Irrevocable Exempt Family Trust and Edward S. Glazer Irrevocable Exempt Trust in a secondary equity offering.

Shares of Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc. HOV +13.14% were down 13% to $83.11 after the company announced revised Q4 and FY21 guidance due to supply chain delays and uncertainties.

Paltalk, Inc. PALT +14.63% was down, falling 14% to $7.09. Paltalk’s filing showed registration for $50 million mixed securities shelf offering.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 2.3% to $77.11, while gold traded up 0.1% to $1,763.40.

Silver traded up 0.1% Wednesday to $22.62 while copper fell 0.7% to $4.1640.

Euro zone

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 1.03%, the Spanish Ibex Index declined 1.71% and the German DAX 30 declined 1.46%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 dropped 1.15%, French CAC 40 dipped 1.26% and Italy’s FTSE MIB dipped 1.35%.

Eurozone retail sales increased 0.3% from a month ago in August, while construction PMI climbed to 50.0 in September from 49.5 a month ago.

The IHS Markit/CIPS construction PMI for the UK dropped to 52.6 in September, while German construction PMI rose to 47.1 in September from 44.6 in August. Spain's industrial production rose 1.8% year-over-year in August versus a revised 3.3% growth in the previous month. French construction PMI increased to 48.9 in September from 44.9 in the earlier month.

Economics

Private businesses hired 568,000 workers in September versus a revised 340,000 gain in August.

US crude oil inventories climbed 2.346 million barrels in the week ending October 1, the Energy Information Administration said.