Mid-afternoon market update: Dow surges 270 points; GameStop (GME Stock) shares drop after Q4 earnings

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.83% to 32,693.82 while the NASDAQ fell 0.70% to 13,135.11. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.41% to 3,926.50.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 29,922,910 cases with around 543,840 deaths. Brazil reported over 12,130,010 COVID-19 cases with 298,670 deaths, while India confirmed a total of at least 11,734,050 cases and 160,440 deaths. In total, there were at least 124,260,610 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 2,735,530 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares rose 3.6% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P. CLMT 10.23%, up 13%, and NextDecade Corporation NEXT 16.95%, up 16%.

In trading on Wednesday, communication services shares fell 0.5%.

Top Headline

General Mills, Inc. GIS 4.1% reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its third quarter, while sales exceeded views.

General Mills posted quarterly earnings of $0.82 per share, missing analysts’ estimates of $0.84 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $4.52 billion, versus expectations of $4.45 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Aptose Biosciences Inc. APTO 58.35% shares shot up 53% to $5.60 after the company reported Q4 earnings results.

Shares of Hall of Fame Resort & Entertainment Company HOFV 37.97% got a boost, shooting 37% to $5.53 after the company announced a Non-Fungible Token partnership with Dolphin Entertainment.

Dolphin Entertainment, Inc. DLPN 9.77% shares were also up, gaining 17% to $21.49 after Hall of Fame Resort & Entertainment announced it signed a Non-Fungible Token partnership with the company.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

GameStop Corp. GME 26.26% shares tumbled 19% to $147.05 after the company reported downbeat earnings for its fourth quarter on Tuesday. The company’s e-commerce business continued to be the big news with a year-over-year increase of 175% in the fourth quarter and 191% for the full fiscal year.

Shares of Hycroft Mining Holding Corporation HYMC 28.3% were down 26% to $5.18 after the company reported year end 2020 results and issued 2021 outlook.

Second Sight Medical Products, Inc. EYES 19.44% was down, falling 17% to $9.12 after the company announced a $27.9 million private placement of common stock.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 5.5% to $60.93, while gold traded up 0.5% to $1,734.30.

Silver traded down 0.1% Wednesday to $25.21 while copper fell 1.1% to $4.0340.

Euro zone

European shares closed mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.02%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.64% and the German DAX 30 dropped 0.35%. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 rose 0.03%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.2% and Italy’s FTSE MIB gained 0.39%.

The IHS Markit Eurozone manufacturing PMI climbed to a record high of 62.4 for March, while services PMI increased to 48.8 in March from 45.7 in the prior month. German composite PMI climbed to 56.8 in March from 51.1 in February, while French composite PMI surged to 49.5 from 47.

UK producer prices rose 0.9% year-over-year in February, while annual inflation rate fell to 0.4% in February from 0.7% in January.

Economics

US durable goods orders fell 1.1% for February.

The IHS Markit flash manufacturing PMI rose to 59 in March from 58.6 in February, while services PMI increased to 60 in March from 58.8 in February.

US crude oil inventories rose 1.9 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said.

San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly will speak at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans is set to speak at 7:00 p.m. ET.