Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Microbot Medical Climbs Amid Technology Patent Allowance; Servicesource International Shares Tumble

Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.11 percent to 20,765.19 while the NASDAQ declined 0.08 percent to 5,860.96. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.11 percent to 2,362.76.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares climbed by 0.62 percent in trading on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell by 1.27 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Newfield Exploration Co. NFX, down 9 percent, and Parker Drilling Company PKD, down 14 percent.

Top Headline

DISH Network Corp DISH reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.

DISH posted Q4 earnings of $0.70 per share on revenue of $3.72 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.66 per share on revenue of $3.76 billion.

During the quarter, Dish added around 28,000 net Pay-TV subscribers.

Equities Trading UP

Microbot Medical Inc MBOT shares shot up 51 percent to $7.76 after reporting a significant technology patent allowance in the U.S. The patent allowance covers a device for the prevention of shunt stenosis.

Shares of Internap Corp INAP got a boost, shooting up 28 percent to $2.32 as the company reported that it has raised $43 million in a common equity private placement.

Lantheus Holdings Inc LNTH shares were also up, gaining 30 percent to $12.20 after reporting strong Q4 results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Argos Therapeutics Inc ARGS shares dropped 67 percent to $1.45 after the company disclosed that an independent data monitoring committee has recommended discontinuation of ADAPT Phase 3 trial of rocapuldencel-T in metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Shares of Servicesource International Inc SREV were down around 31 percent to $4.18 after the company posted downbeat Q4 results and issued a weak revenue forecast. Northland Securities downgraded ServiceSource Intl from Outperform to Market Perform.

Entellus Medical Inc ENTL was down, falling around 23 percent to $13.10 after the company posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss. Bank of America downgraded Entellus Medical from Buy to Underperform.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.38 percent to $53.58 while gold traded up 0.06 percent to $1,239.60.

Silver traded up 0.01 percent Wednesday to $18.08, while copper fell 0.31 percent to $2.75.

Eurozone

European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.01 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.88 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.83 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.26 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.15 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.38 percent.

Economics

Existing-home sales rose 3.3 percent to an annual pace of 5.69 million in January, the National Association of Realtors reported. However, economists were expecting a 5.54 million rate.

The Federal Open Market Committee released minutes of its latest meeting.