Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.01 percent to 24,101.02 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.30 percent to
7,152.37. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.04 percent to 2,653.66.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Wednesday afternoon, the energy shares rose 0.73 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Aegean Marine
Petroleum Network Inc. (NYSE: ANW), up 18 percent, and
Emerge Energy Services LP (NYSE: EMES) up 14
percent.
In trading on Wednesday, consumer staples shares tumbled 1.45 percent.
Top Headline
Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) reported
better-than-expected earnings for its second-quarter earnings.
The world’s largest company, the tech giant delivered second-quarter earnings of $2.73, beating estimates by 3 cents. Sales came
in at $61.1 billion, slightly above estimates.
Apple also announced a new $100 billion buyback plan and raised its quarterly dividend by 16 percent from 63 cents per share to
73 cents per share. Apple issued third-quarter sales guidance of $51.5 billion-$53.3 billion, against a $52 billion estimate.
Equities Trading UP
HC2 Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: HCHC) shares shot up 36
percent to $7.02 after the company disclosed that BeneVir Biopharm agreed to be purchased by J&J's Janssen Biotech for up to
$1.04 billion.
Shares of Community Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE: CYH)
got a boost, shooting up 26 percent to $4.99 following Q1 beat.
Nanometrics Incorporated (NASDAQ: NANO) shares
were also up, gaining 27 percent to $33.45 after reporting better-than-expected Q1 earnings.
Equities Trading DOWN
TC PipeLines, LP (NYSE: TCP) shares dropped 27
percent to $25.92 after the pipeline operator reported Q1 results and lowered its cash distribution.
Shares of Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ESPR) were down 34 percent to $46.59 after reporting a wider-than-expected Q1 loss.
Esperion disclosed that top-line results from pivotal Phase 3 long-term safety study of bempedoic acid met primary endpoint.
Heat Biologics, Inc. (NASDAQ: HTBX) was down,
falling around 38 percent to $2.60. The nano-cap biotechnology saw its stock soar 87 percent throughout Monday's session and was
higher by more than 120 percent at one point. There was no company specific news to support the volatility, but the movement could
be attributed to recent trader interest in "low float stocks." In Heat Biologics case, there are approximately 5.6 million shares
outstanding.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.19 percent to $67.38 while gold traded down 0.09 percent to $1,305.60.
Silver traded up 1.57 percent Wednesday to $16.38, while copper rose 0.95 percent to $3.0665.
Eurozone
European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.63 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.09 percent, while
Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 1.19 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX rose 1.51 percent, and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.16 percent
while U.K. shares rose 0.30 percent.
Economics
Private-sector employers added 204,000 jobs in April, Automatic Data Processing Inc. reported. Economists expected a gain of
190,000 jobs.
Crude supplies increased 6.2 million barrels for the week ended April 27, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said.
However, analysts expected a gain of 1.8 million barrels. Gasoline stockpiles rose 1.2 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles
slipped 3.9 million barrels for the week.
The Federal Reserve voted 8-0 to keep interest rates unchanged.
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