Mid-day market update: Gap drops following downbeat Q3 results. Ocuphire Pharma shares jump

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.28% to 35,714.19 while the NASDAQ fell 0.29% to 15,729.96. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.20% to 4,681.42.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 48,835,210 cases with around 796,310 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 34,535,760 cases and 466,580 deaths, while Brazil reported over 22,038,730 COVID-19 cases with 613,240 deaths. In total, there were at least 259,206,800 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 5,186,780 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares gained by 1.3% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Altus Midstream Company ALTM +3.38% (Get Free Alerts for ALTM), up 4% and Callon Petroleum Company CPE +3.73% (Get Free Alerts for CPE) up 5%.

In trading on Wednesday, consumer staples shares fell 0.6%.

Top Headline

Deere & Company DE +5.56% reported upbeat results for its fourth quarter on Wednesday.

Deere posted quarterly earnings of $4.12 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $3.90 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $11.33 billion, versus expectations of $10.44 billion.

Deere said it sees FY22 net income of $6.5 billion to $7 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Biofrontera Inc. BFRI +118.47% shares shot up 107% to $5.44 after Roth Capital initiated coverage on the stock with a Buy rating and a $20 price target.

Shares of Ocuphire Pharma, Inc. OCUP +35.97% got a boost, shooting 38% to $4.81 after the company announced that the first subjects have been enrolled in the MIRA-3 Phase 3 pivotal trial evaluating Nyxol Eye Drops in the reversal of pharmacologically-induced mydriasis. HC Wainwright & Co. initiated coverage on Ocuphire Pharma with a Buy rating and announced a price target of $26.

Better Therapeutics, Inc. BTTX +17.94% shares were also up, gaining 22% to $7.90 after Chardan Capital initiated coverage on the stock with a Buy rating and a $17 price target.

Equities Trading DOWN

Nordstrom, Inc. JWN -29.17% shares tumbled 28% to $23.12 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q3 sales results. Jefferies downgraded Nordstrom from Buy to Hold and lowered the price target from $48 to $30.

Shares of The Gap, Inc. GPS -22.82% were down 22% to $18.36 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q3 EPS and sales results and cut FY21 adjusted EPS guidance below estimates.

Pasithea Therapeutics Corp. KTTA -25% was down, falling 30% to $3.9211. Pasithea Therapeutics priced its 8.68 million share private placement at $3.50 per share.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.1% to $78.52, while gold traded down 0.1% to $1,783.10.

Silver traded up 0.2% Wednesday to $23.475 while copper rose 0.8% to $4.4585.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.07%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.31% and the German DAX 30 dropped 0.51%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.24%, French CAC 40 rose 0.03% and Italy’s FTSE MIB gained 0.62%.

The Ifo Business Climate indicator for Germany dropped for the fifth month to 96.5 in November, while manufacturing climate indicator in France climbed to 109 in November from 107.

Economics

US durable goods orders dropped 0.5% month-over-month in October.

The US economy grew by an annualized rate of 2.1% on quarter in the third qaurter.

The US goods trade deficit shrank to $82.9 billion in October from $97 billion trade gap in September.

US initial jobless claims fell to 199,000 in the week ending November 20th, versus a revised level of 270,000 in the prior period.

Wholesale inventories climbed 2.2% to $758.5 billion in October.

New home sales rose 0.4% to an annual rate of 745,000 in October.

US personal spending rose 1.3% in October, while personal income rose 0.5%.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index was revised higher to 67.4 in November from a preliminary reading of 66.8.

US crude oil inventories climbed 1.017 million barrels in the week ending November 19, the EIA said.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.

The Federal Open Market Committee will issue minutes of its latest meeting at 2:00 p.m. ET.