Benzinga - by Avi Kapoor, Benzinga Staff Writer.
U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining around 150 points on Wednesday.
The Dow traded up 0.59% to 39,790.88 while the NASDAQ rose 0.93% to 16,665.13. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.80% to 5,288.72.
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Leading and Lagging Sectors
Utilities shares rose by 1.5% on Wednesday.
In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell by 0.8%.
Top Headline
U.S. retail sales came in unchanged month-over-month in April compared to a revised 0.6% increase in March.
Equities Trading UP
- OptimizeRx Corporation (NASDAQ:OPRX) shares shot up 25% to $13.12 following upbeat quarterly results.
- Shares of Edible Garden AG Incorporated (NASDAQ:EDBL) got a boost, surging 31% to $5.60 following first-quarter results.
- iPower Inc. (NASDAQ:IPW) shares were also up, gaining 37% to $1.22 after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter financial results.
- Virpax Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRPX) shares dropped 63% to $0.83 after the company reported pricing of $2.25m public offering.
- Shares of Pixelworks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PXLW) were down 40% to $1.1150 after the company issued soft second-quarter guidance.
- Aethlon Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEMD) was down, falling 47% to $0.45 after the company announced pricing of $4.7 million public offering.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.7% to $77.47 while gold traded up 0.7% at $2,375.50.
Silver traded up 1.8% to $29.22 on Wednesday, while copper fell 0.1% to $4.8895.
Euro zone
European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 0.44%, Germany's DAX rose 0.68% and France's CAC 40 rose 0.01%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 0.98%, while London's FTSE 100 rose 0.08%.
Industrial production in the Eurozone increased by 0.6% month-over-month in March compared to a revised 1% gain in the previous month. The Eurozone economy grew by 0.3% on quarter during the first three months, compared to a 0.1% decline in the prior quarter.
The annual inflation rate in France fell to 2.2% in April from 2.3% in March.
Asia Pacific Markets
Asian markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday, with Japan's Nikkei gaining 0.08%, China's Composite Index falling 0.82%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index falling 0.22% and India's S&P BSE Sensex falling 0.22%.
Total passenger vehicle sales in India rose 1.2% year-over-year to 287,746 in April compared to an 8.9% rise in the prior month. The People’s Bank of China kept the interest rate unchanged at 2.50%.
Economics
- Mortgage applications in the US rose 0.5% from the prior week in the period ending May 10.
- U.S. consumer prices rose 0.3% month-over-month in April compared to 0.4% in the previous month, and also down from market expectations of 0.4%.
- Annual inflation rate in the U.S. slowed to 3.4% in April from 3.5% a month ago.
- U.S. retail sales came in unchanged month-over-month in April compared to a revised 0.6% increase in March.
- The NY Empire State Manufacturing Index declined to -15.6 in May compared to -14.3 in the prior month, and versus market estimates of -10.0.
- Total business inventories declined by 0.1% month-over-month in March compared to a revised 0.3% gain in February.
- The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index declined to 45.0 in May, recording the lowest level in four months.
- Crude oil inventories in the U.S. declined by 2.508 million barrels in the week ending May 10, compared to a 1.362 million gain in the prior period.
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