Mid-day market update: Crude Oil rises 3%; Ovid therapeutics shares plummet

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.05% to 29,809.24 while the NASDAQ fell 0.11% to 12,341.07. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.04% to 3,663.96.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 13,726,300 cases with around 270,690 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 9,499,410 confirmed cases and 138,120 deaths, while Brazil reported over 6,386,780 COVID-19 cases with 173,810 deaths. In total, there were at least 63,995,700 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 1,483,220 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed 4.5% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included QEP Resources, Inc. QEP 11.43%, up 16%, and Callon Petroleum Company CPE 16.93%, up 18%.

In trading on Wednesday, real estate shares fell 1.1%.

Top Headline

Pfizer Inc PFE 3.36% and its German partner BioNTech SE BNTX 6.35% said Wednesday they have received regulatory approval in the United Kingdom for their COVID-19 vaccine..

The go-ahead from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) means the U.K. has become the first country to approve a COVID-19 vaccine on an emergency basis ahead of the United States and the European Union.

Equities Trading UP

Sequential Brands Group, Inc. SQBG 20.91% shares shot up 22% to $11.50 after the company announced relaunch of broad review of strategic alternatives.

Shares of Tredegar Corporation TG 28% got a boost, shooting 28% to $21.16 after the company declared a special dividend of $5.97 per share.

Kingsway Financial Services Inc. KFS 20.8% shares were also up, gaining 25% to $3.78. Kingsway Financial Services reported the closing of its acquisition of PWI Holdings, Inc.

Equities Trading DOWN

Ovid Therapeutics Inc. OVID 55.11% shares tumbled 55% to $2.9652 after the company announced topline results from the Phase 3 NEPTUNE study of OV101 for the treatment of Angelman syndrome, showing the study did not meet the primary endpoint of change in overall score on the Clinical Global Impression-Improvement-Angelman syndrome. Citigroup downgraded Ovid Therapeutics from Buy to Neutral and lowered the price target from$10 to $4.

Shares of Auris Medical Holding Ltd. EARS 33.46% were down 33% to $3.48 after the company priced an $8 million offering at $4 per share.

ReneSola Ltd SOL 19.09% was down, falling 17% to $6.57 after the company reported downbeat quarterly sales..

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 3% to $45.90, while gold traded up 0.6% to $1,829.50.

Silver traded down 0.1% Wednesday to $24.06 while copper rose 0.1% to $3.4905.

Euro zone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.05%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.98%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.58%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 declined 0.52%, French CAC 40 rose 0.02% and London’s FTSE 100 gained 1.23%.

Retail sales in Germany climbed 2.6% in October versus a revised 1.9% decline in September.

Economics

US private sector created 307,000 jobs in November, the ADP reported. However, analysts were expecting an addition of 410,000 jobs.

US crude-oil inventories declined 700,000 barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said.

The Federal Open Market Committee will release its latest Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.

New York Fed President John Williams will speak at 1:00 p.m. ET.