Wall Street mixed at midday as Nasdaq underwhelms

1pm: GameStop down following earnings report

The Dow was up 282 points, 0.9%, at 32,705 in early afternoon trading, and the S&P 500 added 17 points, 0.5%, to 3,928. The Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, slipped 82 points, 0.6%, to 13,145.

After reporting earnings Tuesday after the close, shares of GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME) are down more than 18% to $148.15,

“GameStop shares are in the red as the company said it is contemplating selling off some of its stock as a way to finance its restructuring,” CMC Markets UK analyst David Madden wrote. “Despite the fact the stock has dropped greatly since its recent all-time high, it is still up over 800% on a year-to-date basis. The company needs to pivot away from its bricks and mortar business and put more focus on its online sales, in the fourth quarter, ecommerce sales rose by 175%, which accounted for more than one third of total sales.

“GameStop has been left behind by the switch to online sales and those problems were compounded by the lockdowns. Should the company dispose of some of its shares and use the funds to reinvest in the business that should benefit the firm in the long run.”

10:40am: Proactive North America headlines:

Cloud Nine Web3 Technologies  Inc (CSE:CNI) (OTCMKTS:CLGUF) names entrepreneur and CEO of Victory Square Technologies as strategic advisor

Clean Seed Capital Group Ltd (CVE:CSX) (OTCMKTS:CLGPF)to break ground on new operations and assembly facility in Saskatchewan

Plurilock Security Inc (CVE:PLUR) (OTCQB:PLCKF) completes transitioning to its new state-of-the-art cloud infrastructure

Australis Capital Inc (CSE:AUSA) (OTC:AUSAF) (FRA:AC4) completes first phase of Green Therapeutics acquisition with cannabis subsidiary purchase

American Battery Metals Corporation (OTCQB:ABML) achieves notable milestones in the development of its lithium-ion battery recycling pilot plant in Nevada

Dalrada Financial Corp (OTCQB:DFCO) appoints new executive vice president of sales and business development

The Parent Company Holding Corp (NEO:GRAM.U) (OTCQX:GRAMF) (OTCPINK:GRMWF) launches Fun Uncle Cruises full gram vape cartridges

PlantX Life Inc (CSE:VEGA) (OTCQB:PLXTF) (FRA:WNT1) teams up with celebrity chef Anne Thornton on new plant-based meal initiative

Revive Therapeutics Ltd (CSE:RVV) (OTCMKTS:RVVTF) (FRA:31R) on track to meet planned patient enrollment for its Phase 3 Bucillamine coronavirus trial in second quarter

Power REIT (NYSEAMERICAN:PW) 4Q revenue surges 121% to $1.4M as accretive acquisitions pay off

ImagineAR Inc (CSE:IP) (OTCQB:IPNFF) (FRA:GMS1)  says May Pang offering her personal collection of John Lennon’s ‘Lost Weekend’ photographs to NFT collector market

Lexaria technology Corp (NASDAQ:LEXX) (CSE:LXX) generates positive stability testing for ready-to-drink CBD beverages

Willow Biosciences Inc (TSE:WLLW) (OTCQX:CANSF) on track to commercialize ultra-pure cannabinoids in 2021 with over C$47M in the bank

Roth Capital Partners boosts target price for Energy Fuels to $6.50 from $2.50, repeats ‘Buy’ following the company’s recent 2020 results

Bragg Gaming Group Inc (TSX:BRAG) (OTCMKTS:BRGGF) (FRA:SL4A) appoints Richard Carter as new CEO

Empower Clinics Inc (CSE:CBDT) (FRA:8EC) (OTCQB:EPWCF) submits bids to provide coronavirus tests for 50,000 federal employees through KAI Medical Laboratory

9:40am: Wall Street starts ahead

As expected, the main indices on Wall Street were firmly in the green on Wednesday morning as traders looked to recover Tuesday’s losses.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.47% at 32,576 while the S&P 500 climbed 0.44% to 3,927 and the Nasdaq rose 0.36% to 13,274.

Equities seem to have been lifted by a fall in bond yields as well as rising oil prices caused partially by the ongoing blockage of the Suez canal by a grounded container ship.

Meanwhile, Reddit darling GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME) got off to a bleak start following its results overnight, with the shares down 9.6% at US$164.30 in early deals.

8:00am: Wall Street set for rebound

Wall Street is expected to open higher after US Treasury yields dipped again in the wake of comments from Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell and ahead of another testimony from him later. There is also support from the rising oil price after the container ship blocked the Suez canal.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is forecast to rise 138 points to 32,561, the S&P 500 is expected to open 15 points higher at 3925 and the Nasdaq Composite futures are showing a 100 point gain to 13,327.

Jim Reid at Deutsche Bank said: “Treasury Secretary Yellen and Fed Chair Powell appeared before the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee (on Tuesday) as part of the Congressional oversight of the pandemic response. Both officials are expected to appear before the Senate Banking Committee later on today in what is likely to be an encore performance. Chair Powell spoke to inflation worries saying that he and his colleagues do believe there will be upward pressure on prices, but “that the effect on inflation will be neither particularly large nor persistent.” He went on to cite that “we have been living in a world of strong disinflationary pressures – around the world really – for a quarter of a century…We don’t think a one-time surge in spending leading to temporary price increases would disrupt that.”

Bitcoin is in demand again after, what else, a tweet from Elon Musk.

Sophie Griffiths, market analyst at Oanda said: “Both Bitcoin and Tesla are likely to be in focus. The cryptocurrency has surged 5% after Tesla CEO announced that Tesla now accepts Bitcoin. Whilst details such as pricing policy are short on the ground, the announcement is still music to the ears of Bitcoin bulls.”

GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME) shares are around 13% lower in pre-market trading after its sales and income both fell short of forecasts, while US durable goods figures are due at 12.30pm GMT.

Four things to watch for on Wednesday:

• The earnings diary on Wednesday will see appearances from Cheerios and Cocoa Puffs maker General Mills Inc (NYSE:GIS), home furnishings group RH Inc (NYSE:RH) and healthcare services group Signify Health Inc (NYSE:SGFY)
• Banking giant Goldman Sachs may attract attention amid a growing revolt from its junior bankers over the firm’s long working hours
• Commodities may also be eyed warily amid an ongoing blockage of the Suze canal by a container ship
• On the macro data front, US durable goods orders are a key entry in the diary as well as flash PMIs and more testimony from Fed chair Jerome Powell

Story by ProactiveInvestors