Benzinga | Sep 16, 2020 02:36PM EDT

Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Jumps 300 Points; Fed Leaves Interest Rates Unchanged

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 1.1% to 28302.78 while the NASDAQ rose 0.06% to 11196.87. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.63% to 3,422.61.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 6,606,670 cases with around 195,960 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 5,020,350 confirmed cases and 82,060 deaths, while Brazil reported over 4,382,260 COVID-19 cases with 133,110 deaths. In total, there were at least 29,607,590 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 935,870 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed 4.1% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEIX), up 24%, and Centennial Resource Development, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDEV), up 14%.

In trading on Wednesday, information technology shares fell 0.8%.

Top Headline

In a move that was widely expected, the U.S. Federal Reserve maintained its current fed funds target range of zero to 0.25% on Wednesday.

This week's Fed meeting was the first since Chairman Jerome Powell discussed the Fed's new "average inflation targeting" policy in late August in which it may keep interest rates near 0% until inflation levels exceed its 2% inflation target.

Equities Trading UP

Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE:KODK) shares shot up 35% to $8.43 as the special committee appointed by its board declared the outcome of its independent review on the company's handling of stock options to the CEO. The committee remarked that although there were no violations of the law, the company did a sub-par job in matters of corporate governance, according to Bloomberg.

Shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARWR) got a boost, shooting 45% to $49.04 after the company announced positive interim 24-week liver biopsy results in four subjects from AROAAT2002, an open-label Phase 2 clinical study of ARO-AAT, the company's second-generation investigational RNA interference therapeutic.

ReTo Eco-Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:RETO) shares were also up, gaining 32% to $0.6270 after the company signed a cooperation agreement to build large scale industrial park and elderly wellness town in Yangbi County.

Equities Trading DOWN

ADT Inc. (NYSE:ADT) shares tumbled 12% to $9.48 after the company priced its 43.5 million share offering by selling shareholders at $10 per share.

Shares of American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AXL) were down 11% to $6.90.

Novus Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVUS) was down, falling 13% to $0.9650. Novus Therapeutics shares climbed 193% on Tuesday after the company reported the acquisition of Anelixis Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a next generation anti-CD40 Ligand antibody as a potential treatment for organ and cellular transplantation, autoimmune diseasesand neurodegenerative diseases.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 4.5% to $40.01, while gold traded up 0.2% to $1,969.40.

Silver traded down 0.1% Wednesday to $27.44, while copper rose 0.1% to $3.065.

Euro zone

European shares closed mostly higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 0.58%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.06%, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index gained 0.04%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 gained 0.29%, French CAC 40 gained 0.13% and London's FTSE 100 fell 0.44%.

The UK's annual inflation slowed in August, with consumer prices increasing just 0.2% on the year, versus a 1% rise in July.

Economics

U.S. retail sales rose 0.6% in August, versus a revised 0.9% increase in July.

U.S. business inventories increased 0.1% for July.

The NAHB housing market index rose 5 points to a reading of 83 in September.

U.S. crude inventories dropped 4.4 million barrels for the week ended September 11, the Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were expecting for a drop of 1.8 million barrels. Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, hub slipped around 100,000 barrels last week. Gasoline supply declined 400,000 barrels, while distillate stockpiles increased 3.5 million barrels for the week.

In a move that was widely expected, the U.S. Federal Reserve maintained its current fed funds target range of zero to 0.25% on Wednesday.