Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.17 percent to 24,682.01 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.79 percent to 7,069.26.
The S&P also rose, gaining 0.39 percent to 2,673.45.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
On Wednesday, the basic materials shares climbed 1.24 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Harmony Gold
Mining Co. (ADR) (NYSE: HMY), up 9 percent, and
Endeavour Silver Corp (NYSE: EXK), up 9 percent.
In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares tumbled 0.30 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Empresa
Distribuidora y Cmrz Nrt SA(ADR) (NYSE: EDN), down 2
percent, and Pure Cycle Corporation (NASDAQ: PCYO)
down 2 percent.
Top Headline
Groupon Inc (NASDAQ: GRPN) reported
weaker-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.
The company said it earned $0.07 per share on revenue of $873.16 million in the fourth quarter. However, Wall Street analysts
were expecting the company to earn $0.09 per share on revenue of $852 million.
Groupon expects FY18 adjusted EBITDA of $260 million to $270 million.
Equities Trading UP
Fossil Group Inc (NASDAQ: FOSL) shares shot up 65
percent to $14.93 after the company reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.
Shares of InspireMD Inc (NYSE: NSPR) got a boost,
shooting up 25 percent to $6.00. InspireMD reported a Q4 loss of $7.38 per share on sales of $833,000.
Layne Christensen Company (NASDAQ: LAYN) shares
were also up, gaining 22 percent to $15.35. Granite Construction Inc. (NYSE: GVA) announced plans to acquire Layne Christensen for $17 per share in stock.
Equities Trading DOWN
Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: TTPH)
shares dropped 59 percent to $2.24 following negative trial results for Eravacycline. BMO Capital downgraded Tetraphase
Pharmaceutical from Outperform to Market Perform.
Shares of Avinger Inc (NASDAQ: AVGR) were down 41
percent to $1.57. Avinger priced its Series B convertible preferred stock for $18 million in gross proceeds.
Galmed Pharmaceuticals Ltd (NASDAQ: GLMD) was
down, falling around 50 percent to $4.77 after the company disclosed that its top line data from the ARRIVE study did not meet its
primary endpoint. Maxim Group downgraded Galmed Pharmaceuticals from Buy to Hold.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.19 percent to $59.08 while gold traded up 1.26 percent to $1,347.20.
Silver traded up 1.34 percent Wednesday to $16.75, while copper rose 1.42 percent to $3.2075.
Eurozone
European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 1.12 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.69 percent,
while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index jumped 1.61 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 1.23 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 1.42
percent while U.K. shares rose 0.98 percent.
Economics
The MBA's index of mortgage application activity dropped 4.1 percent for the latest week.
U.S. retail sales declined 0.3 percent for January, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.2 percent gain.
The Consumer Price Index rose 0.5 percent for January, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.3 percent growth.
U.S. business inventories gained 0.4 percent for December, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.3 percent growth.
U.S. crude oil inventories gained 1.84 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration reported. However,
analysts expected a rise of 2.83 million barrels.
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