Mid-day market update: Crude Oil surges 4%; Eastman Kodak shares spike higher

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.77% to 28,207.22 while the NASDAQ fell 0.05% to 11,184.63. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.43% to 3,415.98.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 6,606,670 cases with around 195,960 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 5,020,350 confirmed cases and 82,060 deaths, while Brazil reported over 4,382,260 COVID-19 cases with 133,110 deaths. In total, there were at least 29,607,590 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 935,870 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed 3.7% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Pacific Ethanol, Inc. PEIX 22.5%, up 22%, and NexTier Oilfield Solutions Inc. NEX 12.14%, up 13%.

In trading on Wednesday, information technology shares fell 0.3%.

Top Headline

FedEx Corporation FDX 5.47%, on Tuesday, reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter.

FedEx posted quarterly earnings of $4.87 per share, versus analysts’ estimates of $2.69 per share. The company reported sales of $19.30 billion, beating expectations of $17.55 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Eastman Kodak Company KODK 41.12% shares shot up 42% to $8.83 as the special committee appointed by its board declared the outcome of its independent review on the company’s handling of stock options to the CEO. The committee remarked that although there were no violations of the law, the company did a sub-par job in matters of corporate governance, according to Bloomberg.

Shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ARWR 45.47% got a boost, shooting 48% to $49.90 after the company announced positive interim 24-week liver biopsy results in four subjects from AROAAT2002, an open-label Phase 2 clinical study of ARO-AAT, the company's second-generation investigational RNA interference therapeutic.

ReTo Eco-Solutions, Inc. RETO 40.32% shares were also up, gaining 34% to $0.6380 after the company signed a cooperation agreement to build large scale industrial park and elderly wellness town in Yangbi County.

Equities Trading DOWN

ADT Inc. ADT 13.66% shares tumbled 14% to $9.31 after the company priced its 43.5 million share offering by selling shareholders at $10 per share.

Shares of American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. AXL 13.82% were down 14% to $6.68.

Novus Therapeutics, Inc. NVUS 17.34% was down, falling 15% to $0.9394. Novus Therapeutics shares climbed 193% on Tuesday after the company reported the acquisition of Anelixis Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a next generation anti-CD40 Ligand antibody as a potential treatment for organ and cellular transplantation, autoimmune diseasesand neurodegenerative diseases.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 4% to $39.81, while gold traded up 0.6% to $1,977.50.

Silver traded up 0.4% Wednesday to $27.575, while copper rose 0.1% to $3.0645.

Euro zone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.51%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.81%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.06%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 gained 0.13%, French CAC 40 slipped 0.04% and London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.39%.

The UK’s annual inflation slowed in August, with consumer prices increasing just 0.2% on the year, versus a 1% rise in July.

Economics

U.S. retail sales rose 0.6% in August, versus a revised 0.9% increase in July.

U.S. business inventories increased 0.1% for July.

The NAHB housing market index rose 5 points to a reading of 83 in September.

U.S. crude inventories dropped 4.4 million barrels for the week ended September 11, the Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were expecting for a drop of 1.8 million barrels. Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, hub slipped around 100,000 barrels last week. Gasoline supply declined 400,000 barrels, while distillate stockpiles increased 3.5 million barrels for the week.

The Federal Reserve is scheduled to announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET. No change in interest rate is expected at the meeting.

The Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET.

The Treasury International Capital report for July will be released at 4:00 p.m. ET.