Mid-day market update: Gold falls over 1%; Comstock Mining (LODE Stock) shares spike higher

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.11% to 31,489.37 while the NASDAQ fell 1.55% to 13,829.94. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.58% to 3,909.91.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 27,757,500 cases with around 488,100 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 10,937,320 confirmed cases and 155,910 deaths, while Brazil reported over 9,921,980 COVID-19 cases with 240,940 deaths. In total, there were at least 109,604,770 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 2,421,280 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer staples shares rose 0.3% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included The Andersons, Inc. ANDE 7.75%, up 9%, and G. Willi-Food International Ltd. WILC 1.19%, up 3%.

In trading on Wednesday, information technology shares fell by 1.7%.

Top Headline

Owens Corning OC 2.28% reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter on Wednesday.

Owens Corning reported quarterly earnings of $1.90 per share, exceeding analysts’ estimates of $1.38 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $1.90 billion, versus expectations of $1.80 billion.

Equities Trading UP

CLPS Incorporation CLPS 262.25% shares shot up 185% to $13.95 after the company said its technology subsidiary signed vendor deal with US digital payment platform to provide IT services.

Shares of Comstock Mining Inc. LODE 143.95% got a boost, shooting 174% to $6.18 following news the company secured a majority interest in a lithium-ion battery recycling company. Comstock plans to process 10,000 tons of lithium-ion per year into 99.9% pure lithium-ion cathodes for clean energy usage.

Processa Pharmaceuticals, Inc. PCSA 34.28% shares were also up, gaining 25% to $10.09. Processa Pharmaceuticals executed securities purchase agreement to raise gross proceeds of $10.2 million from sale of 1,321,132 shares at $7.75 per share.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Luokung Technology Corp. LKCO 30.33% shares tumbled 32% to $2.035 after the company announced a roughly 48 million share common stock offering priced at $2.08 per share.

Shares of Socket Mobile, Inc. SCKT 39.78% were down 35% to $13.51. Socket Mobile shares jumped over 538% on Tuesday after the company announced the launch of its DuraSled barcode scanner for the iPhone 12.

Pyxis Tankers Inc. PXS 32.09% was down, falling 36% to $1.88 after the company announced a $25 million private placement of common stock at $1.75 per share.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.3% to $60.24, while gold traded down 1.4% to $1,789.10.

Silver traded down 0.6% Wednesday to $27.16 while copper fell 0.5% to $3.8140.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.76%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.37% and the German DAX 30 slipped 0.99%. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 fell 0.3%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.51% and Italy’s FTSE MIB fell 1.14%.

Eurozone construction output in fell 2.3% year-over-year in December. Annual inflation rate in the UK rose to 0.7% in January from 0.6% in December, while producer prices fell 0.2% year-on-year in January.

Economics

The Producer Price Index rose 1.3% for January.

Retail sales in the US climbed 5.3% in January.

US industrial production rose 0.9% for January.

US business inventories increased 0.6% for December.

The NAHB housing market index rose 1 point to 84 in February.

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

The Treasury is set to auction 20-year bonds at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan will speak at 6:05 p.m. ET.