Editor’s note: Related tickers: Royale Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROYL), DragonWave, Inc.(USA) (NASDAQ:DRWI), Institutional Financial Markets Inc (NYSEAMEX:IFMI), Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
As usually, after the end of the day we take a look on the U.S markets’ top gainers, losers and volume leaders. This time, the markets had a couple of surprises prepared right before closing. One of them is a big announcement made by Royale Energy which boosted dramatically its shares price. However, while speaking about volume leaders, the situation has not change much since the first half of the day. Highlights from the markets leaders include Royale Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROYL), Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT).
In the second half of the day, Royale Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROYL) began to advance and closed as the top gainer on Wednesday. The stock closed 67.05% higher at $3.34 in deals worth about $6.0 million. According to a press release on NASDAQ, Royale Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROYL) announced about signing a letter of intent according to which it will receive $1,200 in cash and other consideration (like stock options) per acre for up to 50,875 acres of its 96,000 acre Alaska North Slope holdings. “An undisclosed company has agreed in principal to fund all exploration costs for seismic data acquisition and the drilling of two horizontal wells for a total of $38 million. Additionally Royale Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROYL) will receive $3,373,659 USD for the 33,736.59 acres on the company’s Western Block, together with stock options and a right to receive an additional $1.7 million USD for 17,000 acres in the company’s Central Block,” the statement said.
The second highest gainer on Wednesday was DragonWave, Inc.(USA) (NASDAQ:DRWI), whose share price advanced by 28.39% to $1.99 in deals worth $1.2 million. Today DragonWave, Inc.(USA) (NASDAQ:DRWI), specialized in wireless Ethernet Equipment for Internet Protocol (IP) networks, released information about renewing its existing operational framework with Nokia Siemens Networks under which DragonWave, Inc.(USA) (NASDAQ:DRWI) will receive from them an immediate cash payment of 10.6 million euro ($13.8 million). “The Italian services agreement, pursuant to which Nokia Siemens Networks has provided R & D and certain other services to DragonWave since June 1, 2012, is terminated. As a result of this action DragonWave, Inc.(USA) (NASDAQ:DRWI) expects that operating costs will be reduced by approximately EUR3M per quarter. DragonWave expects to pay a termination fee totaling approximately EUR7M over the balance of fiscal year 2014,” the Dragonwave said in a statement.
The list of three highest gainers is closed by Institutional Financial Markets Inc (NYSEAMEX:IFMI). The share price of the investment firm Institutional Financial Markets Inc (NYSEAMEX:IFMI) increased by 24.14% to $2.88 in turnover worth $370,300.
Now, let’s take a look at the most traded stocks today. The first stock as it was in the morning is Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC). The shares of the company closed 0.57% higher at $12.32 in turnover worth about $105.5 million. Goldman Sachs recently has reduced its first-quarter earnings forecast for Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) by 15%, which could mean that Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) might start losing ground. Also, according to a yesterday press release from the FED, Bank of America is one of the several banks that will start payments for about 4.2 million on April 12. The total value that will be paid for “borrowers whose homes were in any stage of the foreclosure process in 2009 or 2010” amounts to $3.6 billion in cash payments.
The position for the second most popular stock remained after Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). The shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) grew by 2.26% to $30.28 in deals worth $70.8 million. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is expected to release an update to its Windows Phone software later in 2013, which will feature 1080p compatibility and support for new quad-core processors.
The third most traded stock is Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) with a turnover of $66.9 million. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)’s shares appreciated by 2.34% to $22.26 by the end of the day. According to a report, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) could name a new CEO which will replace the current Paul Otellini who is about to retire. The naming could be scheduled for company’s annual meeting on May 16 and will represent the biggest change in the company’s history of the last decade.
