Mid-day market update: Crude Oil rises over 1%; Aptorum Group shares plummet

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 1.76% to 27,934 while the NASDAQ rose 1.33% to 11,233. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.4% to 3,382.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 7,191,340 cases with around 206,000 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 6,225,760 confirmed cases and 97,490 deaths, while Brazil reported over 4,777,520 COVID-19 cases with 142,920 deaths. In total, there were at least 33,676,270 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 1,008,410 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer discretionary shares jumped 1.6% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Tuniu Corporation TOUR 26.8%, up 32%, and LightInTheBox Holding Co., Ltd. LITB 9.38%, up 10%.

In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares rose by just 0.4%.

Top Headline

Micron Technology, Inc. MU 6.41% reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter, but issued weak profit forecast for the first quarter.

Micron reported quarterly earnings of $1.08 per share, exceeding analysts’ estimates of $0.99 per share. The company reported sales of $6.06 billion, surpassing expectations of $5.89 billion.

Micron said it expects Q1 adjusted EPS of $0.40 to $0.54, versus analysts’ estimates of $0.69. The company projects sales of $5.0 billion to $5.4 billion, versus expectations of $5.31 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Iterum Therapeutics plc ITRM 120.36% shares shot up 126% to $1.46 after the company said, based on discussions at a pre-NDA meeting with the FDA, it plans to proceed with an NDA submission for sulopenem etzadroxil/probenecid, a bilayer tablet, for the treatment of uncomplicated urinary tract infections in patients with a quinolone-resistant pathogen.

Shares of CynergisTek, Inc. CTEK 110.28% got a boost, shooting 45% to $1.61 after the company announced a 3-year risk management program with Valley Health Systems.

CTI BioPharma Corp. CTIC 103.33% shares were also up, gaining 107% to $2.1699 after the company said it has reached an agreement with the FDA to submit an NDA for the potential accelerated approval of pacritinib as a treatment for myelofibrosis patients with severe thrombocytopenia. This follows the company's recent pre-NDA meeting with the agency.

Equities Trading DOWN

Aptorum Group Limited APM 42.33% shares tumbled 40% to $2.8558. Aptorum Group priced its offering of 2.769 million Class A ordinary shares and warrants to purchase up to another 2.769 million Class A Ordinary Shares, at a combined public offering price of $3.25 per share and related warrant.

Shares of The9 Limited NCTY 41.02% were down 40% to $0.3107 after the company reported pricing of $8.7 million underwritten offering.

Oasis Petroleum Inc. OAS 37.01% was down, falling 34% to $0.269 after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.3% to $39.81, while gold traded down 0.6% to $1,892.80.

Silver traded down 1.6% Wednesday to $24.060 while copper rose 1.6% to $3.0380.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.4%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.6%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.3%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 rose 0.2%, French CAC 40 rose 0.3% and London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.2%.

Spain reported a narrower current account surplus, which shrank to EUR 1.45 billion in July versus EUR 3.74 billion in the year-ago period. German jobless claims declined for the third straight month, falling by 8,000 in September.

Economics

US private businesses hired 749,000 workers in September, the ADP reported

The US economy contracted by an annualized rate of 31.4% in the second quarter versus a 31.7% decline in the second estimate.

The Chicago PMI climbed to 62.4 in September versus 51.2 in August.

The pending home sales index climbed 8.8% for August.

Data on farm prices for August will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari is set to speak at 9:30 a.m. ET.

Fed Gov. Michelle Bowman will speak at 1:40 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan is set to speak at 6:00 p.m. ET.