Mid-day market update: US stocks turn lower; Bio-Path (BPTH Stock) shares jump

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.07% to 31,355.00 while the NASDAQ fell 0.46% to 13,943.81. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.23% to ,902.13.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 27,192,910 cases with around 468,200 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 10,858,370 confirmed cases and 155,250 deaths, while Brazil reported over 9,599,560 COVID-19 cases with 233,520 deaths. In total, there were at least 106,981,240 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 2,343,070 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares rose 1.9% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Torchlight Energy Resources, Inc. TRCH 76.88%, up 70%, and 0.990 GTE 21.34%, up 21%.

In trading on Wednesday, consumer discretionary shares fell by 1.3%.

Top Headline

Coca-Cola Co KO 0.2% reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter on Wednesday.

Coca-Cola reported quarterly earnings of $0.47 per share, exceeding analysts’ estimates of $0.42 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $8.61 billion, versus expectations of $8.63 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Bio-Path Holdings, Inc. BPTH 237.06% shares shot up 260% to $18.74 after the company announced it received a third U.S. patent grant related to the manufacture of its platform technology.

Shares of Cancer Genetics, Inc. CGIX 75.74% got a boost, shooting 83% to $10.58 after the company's filings showed that it entered into a merger agreement with StemoniX.

The OLB Group, Inc. OLB 37.72% shares were also up, gaining 43% to $10.64. OLB Group announced plan to offer cryptocurrency payment options via blockchain technology on its OMNICOMMERCE platform and SecurePay TM gateway.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Panbela Therapeutics Inc. PBLA 26.22% shares tumbled 26% to $6.10. Independent data safety monitoring board (DSMB) has recommended a hold on Panbela Therapeutics’ ongoing Phase 1 trial to hold the administration of SBP-101 pending further investigation of visual disturbance adverse events. The company also announced research agreement with Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Shares of Neovasc Inc. NVCN 22.7% were down 21% to $1.8150 after the company reported a $72 million registered direct offering priced at-the-market.

Aware, Inc. AWRE 19.03% was down, falling 19% to $4.84 after the company reported a loss for the fourth quarter.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.3% to $58.52, while gold traded up 0.1% to $1,839.20.

Silver traded down 1.6% Wednesday to $26.97 while copper rose 1.3% to $3.7670.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.23%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.44% and the German DAX 30 slipped 0.56%. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 fell 0.36%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.11% and Italy’s FTSE MIB fell 0.15%.

Industrial production in France dropped 0.8% in December versus a revised 0.7% decline in November. Germany’s annual inflation rate was confirmed at 1% for January.

Economics

The annual inflation rate came in steady at 1.4% in January.

Wholesale inventories rose 0.3% in December.

US crude oil inventories dropped6.644 million barrels in the week ended February 5, the Energy Information Administration reported.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will speak at 2:00 p.m. ET.

The U.S. Treasury budget statement for January will be released at 2:00 p.m. ET.