Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Tumbles Over 100 Points; H&R Block Shares Spike Higher
U.S. stocks trade lower toward the end of trading, with the Dow Jones dropping more than 100 points on Wednesday.
The Dow traded down 0.41% to 32,028.20 while the NASDAQ fell 2.20% to 11,479.00. The S&P also fell, dropping, 0.81% to 3,968.50.
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Leading and Lagging Sectors
Energy shares jumped by 1.9% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included SEACOR Marine Holdings Inc. (NYSE:SMHI), up 12% and TORM plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) up 15%.
In trading on Wednesday, consumer discretionary shares fell 3.1%.
Top Headline
The US recorded a budget surplus of $308 billion in April versus from a $226 billion deficit in the year-ago period.
Equities Trading UP
Trecora Resources (NYSE:TREC) shares shot up 27% to $9.55 as the company agreed to be acquired by an affiliate of Balmoral Funds at $9.81 per share in cash or an enterprise value of $247 million.
Shares of Celsius Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CELH) got a boost, shooting 14% to $47.12 after the company reported better-than-expected Q1 sales results.
H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) shares were also up, gaining 17% to $27.92 as the company posted upbeat Q3 results and raised FY22 sales guidance.
Equities Trading DOWN
Kornit Digital Ltd. (NASDAQ:KRNT) shares tumbled 32% to $38.28 after the company reported downbeat Q1 sales.
Shares of View, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIEW) were down 70% to $0.4141 after the company in a 10-Q filing said it does not currently have adequate financial resources to fund its forecasted operating costs and will look to raise capital.
IT Tech Packaging, Inc. (NYSE:ITP) was down, falling 41% to $0.1896 after the company said Q1 sales results were lower year over year.
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Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 5.5% to $105.20, while gold traded up 0.6% to $1,851.40.
Silver traded up 0.3% to $21.495 on Wednesday while copper rose 1% to $4.1945.
Euro zone
European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 1.74%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 1.44% and Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 2.13%. The German DAX climbed 2.17%, French CAC 40 jumped 2.50% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 2.84%.
The annual inflation rate in Germany increased to 7.4% in April from 7.3% in the prior month..
Economics
Annual inflation rate in the US eased to 8.3% in April compared to a 41-year high level of 8.5% in the previous month. However, analysts were expecting a reading of 8.1%.
US crude oil inventories increased by 8.487 million barrels in the week ended May 6, following a 1.302 million barrel gain in the prior week, the Energy Information Administration said.
The US recorded a budget surplus of $308 billion in April versus from a $226 billion deficit in the year-ago period.
COVID-19 Update
The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 83,778,760 cases with around 1,025,100 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 43,110,580 cases and 524,150 deaths, while Brazil reported over 30,594,380 COVID-19 cases with 664,440 deaths. In total, there were at least 518,581,060 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,280,530 deaths.