Benzinga | Jul 15, 2020 02:43PM EDT

Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Surges Over 200 Points; Moleculin Biotech Shares Climb

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.82% to 26,861.77 while the NASDAQ rose 0.74% to 10,566.31. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.97% to 3,228.45.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 3,431,570 cases with around 136,465 deaths. Brazil confirmed a total of over 1,926,820 COVID-19 cases with 74,130 deaths, while India reported a total of at least 936,180 confirmed cases and 24,300 deaths. In total, there were at least 13,323,530 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 578,620 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Industrial shares rose 2.6% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Bloom Energy Corporation (NYSE:BE), up 37%, and American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL), up 15%.

In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares fell 0.2%.

Top Headline

Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) reported stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter.

Goldman Sachs reported quarterly earnings of $6.26 per share, beating analysts' estimates of $3.78 per share. The company reported sales of $13.30 billion, exceeding expectations of $9.73 billion.

Goldman Sachs' investment banking revenue climbed 36% year-over-year During the quarter.

Equities Trading UP

China Finance Online Co. Limited (NASDAQ:JRJC) shares shot up 115% to $15.68 after the company announced an agreement under which Dow Jones will provide the company with access to a sub-set of its Chinese language newswire service.

Shares of Genetic Technologies Limited (NASDAQ:GENE) got a boost, shooting 307% to $9.19 after the company issued an update on its COVID-19 Severity Risk Test.

Moleculin Biotech, Inc. (NASDAQ:MBRX) shares were also up, gaining 34% to $1.0499 after the company announce an agreement to produce its WP1122 for the expanded development of a potential coronavirus and oncology drug candidate.

Equities Trading DOWN

Zynex, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZYXI) shares tumbled 15% to $22.36 after the company announced a proposed common stock offering of 2.5 million shares at $22 per share.

Shares of Qumu Corporation (NASDAQ:QUMU) were down 17% to $4.30. Qumu said it sees preliminary 2020 sales of $29 million.

Sphere 3D Corp. (NASDAQ:ANY) was down, falling 13% to $4.03 after the company announced the acquisition of Rainmaker Worldwide.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2.3% to $41.22, while gold traded up 0.1% to $1,813.90.

Silver traded up 1.2% Wednesday to $19.765, while copper fell 1.7% to $2.8835.

Euro zone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 1.76%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.84%, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index climbed 2.02%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 climbed 1.84%, French CAC 40 surged 2.03% and UK shares rose 1.83%.

Economics

The New York Empire State Manufacturing Index climbed to 17.2 in July versus -0.2 in the prior month.

Import prices rose 1.4% in June after gaining 0.8% in May. Export prices in the US rose 1.4% in June after a revised 0.4% increase in May.

US industrial production gained 5.4% in June, following a 1.4% rise in May.

U.S. crude inventories dropped 7.5 million barrels for the week ended July 10, the Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts expected a fall of 2.1 million barrels. Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, hub rose around 900,000 barrels last week. Gasoline supply dropped 3.1 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles declined 453,000 barrels for the week.

The Federal Open Market Committee released its latest Beige Book report.