Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.42 percent to 19,201.69 while the NASDAQ declined 0.08 percent to
5,375.64. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.27 percent to 2,210.53.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Wednesday morning, energy shares gained by 3.96 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included SM Energy Co
(NYSE: SM), and Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE: OAS).
In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares fell by 1.22 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included WGL Holdings
Inc (NYSE: WGL), down 3 percent, and CMS Energy
Corporation (NYSE: CMS), down 3 percent.
Top Headline
GoPro Inc (NASDAQ: GPRO) announced solid camera
unit sales growth during the week of Black Friday, indicating restructuring efforts to trim costs and projecting strong holiday
demand in the United States for its new HERO5 cameras.
GoPro announced a company-wide restructuring initiative that was expected to reduce non-GAAP operating expenses to ~$650 million
next year, enabling the company to meet its target of returning to non-GAAP profitability in 2017. The initiative includes closing
GoPro’s entertainment division and eliminating more than 200 full-time positions as well as the cancelation of open positions,
which would shrink the company’s workforce by ~15 percent.
GoPro estimated total aggregate charges of ~$24 million–$33 million for the restructuring and expects to recognize most of the
charges in Q4 of 2016.
Equities Trading UP
Superconductor Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCON)
shares shot up 52 percent to $3.03 after the company disclosed that the U.S. Department of Energy has awarded the company and its
partners with a $4.5 million contract to improve HTS Wire for its Next Generation Electric Machines program.
Shares of Champions Oncology Inc (NASDAQ: CSBR)
got a boost, shooting up 23 percent to $2.35. Champions Oncology reported a Q2 GAAP loss of $0.05 per share on revenue of $4.5
million.
Globus Maritime Ltd (NASDAQ: GLBS) shares were
also up, gaining 36 percent to $7.57 after rising 46.19 percent on Tuesday.
Equities Trading DOWN
Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: ARWR)
shares dropped 62 percent to $1.68 after the company announced it was discontinuing all its clinical RNAi programs. The company
also announced plans to reduce workforce by 30 percent.
Shares of Cerecor Inc (NASDAQ: CERC) were down 51
percent to $2.30 after the company reports top-line data from CERC-301. The trial failed to demonstrate efficacy on the primary
endpoint.
Costamare Inc (NYSE: CMRE) was down, falling around
13 percent to $5.77 as the company announced a public offering of 11 million common stock.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 7.96 percent to $48.83 while gold traded down 0.42 percent to $1,185.80.
Silver traded up 0.15 percent Wednesday to $16.77, while copper rose 1.13 percent to $2.64.
Eurozone
European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.42 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.13 percent, while
Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 1.14 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.23 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.65
percent while U.K. shares rose 0.94 percent.
Economics
The MBA’s index of mortgage application activity declined 9.4 percent for the latest week.
Private-sector employers added 216,000 net new jobs in November, the ADP reported. However, economists were expecting a gain of
165,000.
Consumer spending increased 0.3 percent in October, versus a revised 0.7 percent growth in September. Economists were expecting
a 0.5 percent gain in spending. However, personal income increased 0.6 percent in October, versus a revised 0.4 percent growth in
September. Economists projected a 0.4 percent growth in income.
The Chicago PMI increased to 57.60 for November, versus a prior reading of 50.60. Economists expected a reading of 52.00.
The pending home sales index rose 0.1 percent to 110.0 in October. Economists were expecting a 0.2 percent growth.
The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Federal Reserve Gov. Jerome Powell is set to speak at 11:45 a.m. ET.
Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester will speak at 12:35 p.m. ET.
The Federal Open Market Committee will release its latest Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Data on farm prices for November will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.
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