Benzinga | Sep 2, 2020 02:30PM EDT

Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Rises 300 Points; Vera Bradley Shares Jump On Upbeat Earnings

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 1.05% to 28947.40 while the NASDAQ rose 0.64% to 12016.66. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.15% to 3567.31.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 6,075,650 cases with around 184,680 deaths. Brazil confirmed a total of over 3,950,930 COVID-19 cases with 122,590 deaths, while India reported a total of at least 3,769,520 confirmed cases and 66,330 deaths. In total, there were at least 25,781,340 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 857,550 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares gained 3% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included VivoPower International PLC (NASDAQ:VVPR), up 16%, and Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE:BIP), up 5%.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell by 0.6%.

Top Headline

Macy's Inc (NYSE:M) reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter.

Macy's reported quarterly loss of $0.81 per share, surpassing analysts' estimates for a loss of $1.77 per share. The company reported sales of $3.56 billion versus expectations of $3.47 billion.



Equities Trading UP

SmileDirectClub, Inc. (NASDAQ:SDC) shares shot up 24% to $9.77 after the company's CEO, CFO and Director bought 1.96 million shares in the company.

Shares of Vera Bradley, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRA) got a boost, shooting 25% to $6.77 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 results.

TSR, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSRI) shares were also up, gaining 29% to $6.06 after the company acquired Geneva Consulting Group.



Equities Trading DOWN

At Home Group Inc. (NYSE:HOME) shares tumbled 28% to $16.84. At Home Group reported upbeat results for its second quarter. However, the company did not issue any guidance due to uncertainty surrounding Covid-19.

Shares of ADiTx Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADTX) were down 17% to $2.635 after the company priced its 2.4 million unit public offering at $4 per unit.

Jiayin Group Inc. (NASDAQ:JFIN) was down, falling 23% to $2.87 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q2 results.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 3% to $41.48, while gold traded down 1.7% to $1,944.60.

Silver traded down 4.2% Wednesday to $27.44, while copper fell 0.2% to $3.022.

Euro zone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 1.66%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.57%, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index climbed 1.34%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 gained 2.07%, French CAC 40 climbed 1.90% and London's FTSE 100 rose 1.35%.

House prices in the UK jumped to a record high, with the annual house price growth increasing to 3.7% in August. Industrial producer prices in the Eurozone rose 0.6% in July after increasing 0.7% in the prior month.

Economics

Private businesses in the US hired 428,000 workers in August, versus a revised gain of 212,000 in July.

The ISM New York current business conditions index declined to 42.9 in August versus 53.5 in the prior month.

U.S. factory orders increased 6.4% in July.

U.S. crude inventories dropped 9.4 million barrels for the week ended August 28, the Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts expected a drop of 1.2 million barrels. Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, hub rose around 100,000 barrels last week. Gasoline supply declined 4.3 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles slipped 1.7 million barrels for the week.

The Federal Reserve released its latest Beige Book report.

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari is set to speak at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly will speak at 6:00 p.m. ET.