Mid-day market update: Nasdaq rises 150 points, NCR shares plunge

U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Dow Jones gaining more than 300 points on Wednesday.

The Dow traded up 1.16% to 33,625.46 while the NASDAQ rose 1.34% to 12,658.55. The S&P also rose, gaining, 1.33% to 4,230.78.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares rose by 1.7% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Enphase Energy, Inc., up 11% and Chindata Group Holdings Limited up 9%.

In trading on Wednesday, communication services shares dipped by 2.4%.

Top Headline

Boeing Company reported wider-than-expected first quarter loss.

Boeing’s adjusted core loss came in at $2.75 per share, versus analysts’ estimates of a $0.25 per share loss. Group revenues declined 8% from last year to $14 billion, versus analysts' expectations of $16.02 billion

Equities Trading UP

Acutus Medical, Inc. shares shot up 32% to $1.0578 after the company announced agreements to fund strategic growth priorities.

Shares of Vivakor, Inc. got a boost, shooting 129% to $3.91 after the company announced it has signed a 10-year contract with Hot Oil Transport with a potential value of up to $250 million.

Tempest Therapeutics, Inc. shares were also up, gaining 35% to $3.1899. Tempest reported a $15 million private placement financing.

Equities Trading DOWN

Molecular Partners AG shares tumbled 37% to $8.62. The company’s collaborating partner Amgen for MP0310 (AMG 506) will return the global rights of MP0310 to Molecular Partners following a strategic pipeline review.

Shares of Extreme Networks, Inc. were down 19% to $9.19 following Q3 results.

NCR Corporation was down, falling 23% to $28.72 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q1 EPS and sales results. The company also cut its FY22 EPS and sales guidance.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.5% to $100.18, while gold traded down 0.8% to $1,888.70.

Silver traded down 0.3% Wednesday to $23.475 while copper rose 0.1% to $4.4645.

Euro zone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.17%, London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.26%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.41%. The German DAX fell 0.43%, French CAC 40 fell 0.25% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.22%.

The consumer confidence in France declined to 88 points in April from a revised reading of 90 points in March, while GfK Consumer Climate Indicator in Germany fell to -26.5 heading into May.

Economics

The goods trade deficit in the US rose to $125.3 billion in March from $106.3 billion in the previous month.

U.S. wholesale inventories rose 2.3% month-over-month to $837.7 billion in March.

The pending home sales index fell 1.2% for March.

U.S. crude oil inventories rose 700,000 barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said.

The Treasury is set to auction 5-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.