Benzinga - by Lisa Levin, Benzinga Editor.
U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining around 1% on Wednesday.
The Dow traded up 0.28% to 33,094.01 while the NASDAQ rose 1.08% to 13,200.09. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.55% to 4,252.74.
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Leading and Lagging Sectors
Consumer discretionary shares rose by 1.3% on Wednesday.
In trading on Wednesday, energy shares dipped by around 3.1%.
Top Headline
The ISM services PMI fell to 53.6 in September versus the six-month high level of 54.5 recorded in the previous month.
Equities Trading UP
BranchOut Food Inc. (NASDAQ: BOF) shares shot up 11% to $2.00. BranchOut pre-announced third-quarter revenue of roughly $1.1 million.
Shares of Gaucho Group Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: VINO) got a boost, shooting 42% to $2.71. Gaucho Group is planning to list two of its retail properties in Argentina, in San Rafael and Cordoba, for sale, priced at $2 million and $0.7 million respectively.
Vivos Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: VVOS) shares were also up, gaining 91% to $0.3558 after the company announced it executed strategic agreements with Ormco and On Demand Orthodontist to provide Spark Clear Aligners to its national network of providers.
Equities Trading DOWN
Kineta, Inc. (NASDAQ: KA) shares dropped 27% to $2.90 after the company announced a $3 million registered direct offering priced at-the-market under Nasdaq rules.
Shares of A10 Networks, Inc. (NYSE: ATEN) were down 31% to $10.43 after the company reported preliminary third-quarter financial results. The company sees quarterly revenue of $56.5 million-$58.5 million, vs. consensus of $74.65 million.
Trinseo PLC (NYSE: TSE) was down, falling 24% to $6.31. Jefferies downgraded Trinseo from Buy to Hold and lowered the price target from $22 to $9.
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Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 4% to $85.63 while gold traded down 0.4% at $1,833.50.
Silver traded down 2% to $20.945 on Wednesday while copper fell 1.6% to $3.5620.
Euro zone
European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.22% London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.83% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.84% The German DAX fell 0.07% French CAC 40 slipped 0.16%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.56%.
Retail sales in the Eurozone declined by 1.2% month-over-month in August versus a revised 0.1% decline in July. Producer prices in the Eurozone declined by 11.5% year-over-year in August versus a 7.6% fall a month ago. The HCOB Eurozone composite PMI edged higher to 47.2 in September from the preliminary level of 47.1.
Italy’s GDP contracted by 0.4% on quarter during the three months leading to June. The S&P Global/CIPS UK services PMI rose to 49.3 in September versus a preliminary level of 47.2, while French services PMI rose to 44.4 in September from flash reading of 43.9. German services PMI increased to 50.3 in September versus the preliminary reading of 49.8.
Asia Pacific Markets
Asian markets closed lower on Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 falling 2.28% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index falling 0.78%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex, meanwhile, fell 0.5%.
The au Jibun Bank Japan services PMI rose to 53.8 in September versus the preliminary reading of 53.3. The Judo Bank Australian services PMI rose to 51.8 in September compared to 47.8 in the previous month.
Economics
The ADP said private businesses in the U.S. added 89,000 workers in September, the least since Jan. 2021, and down from market estimates of 153,000.
The S&P Global services PMI was revised lower to 50.1 in September versus the preliminary reading of 50.2.
The S&P Global composite PMI rose to 50.2 in September from the preliminary reading of 50.1.
The ISM services PMI fell to 53.6 in September versus the six-month high level of 54.5 recorded in the previous month.
U.S. factory orders rose by 1.2% from the prior month to $586.1 million in August, versus market expectations for a 0.2% increase.
U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 2.2 million barrels last week, the EIA said.
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COVID-19 Update
The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 108,769,330 cases with around 1,177,850 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,998,910 cases and 531,930 deaths, while France reported over 40,138,560 COVID-19 cases with 167,640 deaths. In total, there were at least 696,101,690 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,922,740 deaths.
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