Benzinga - by Lisa Levin, Benzinga Editor.
U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Dow Jones gaining around 50 points on Wednesday.
The Dow traded up 0.16% to 34,701.06 while the NASDAQ rose 0.44% to 13,834.85. The S&P 500, also rose, gaining, 0.30% to 4,475.23.
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Leading and Lagging Sectors
Consumer discretionary shares jumped by 0.7% on Wednesday.
In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell by 0.4%.
Top Headline
U.S. crude oil inventories climbed by 3.954 million barrels in the week ending Sept. 8, 2023, versus market estimates of a 1.912 million decline, the EIA reported.
Equities Trading UP
HireRight Holdings Corporation (NYSE: HRT) shares shot up 17% to $10.20.
HireRight plans additional $25 million share repurchase program.
Shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCKT) got a boost, shooting 43% to $21.88 after the company announced that alignment has been reached with the FDA on the global Phase 2 pivotal trial of RP-A501 for Danon Disease.
DZS Inc. (NASDAQ: DZSI) shares were also up, gaining 31% to $2.3998. DZS secured $29.7 million in financing.
Equities Trading DOWN
Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: EIGR) shares dropped 48% to $0.3615 after the company announced its decision to discontinue the Phase 3 LIMT-2 study of peginterferon lambda in patients with chronic hepatitis delta.
Shares of Calidi Biotherapeutics (NYSE: CLDI) were down 45% to $4.40 following the company’s public debut.
KULR Technology Group, Inc. (NYSE: KULR) was down, falling 29% to $0.4158 as the company reported pricing of $2.5 million public offering of common stock.
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Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.4% to $89.20 while gold traded up 0.1% at $1,936.20.
Silver traded down 0.6% to $23.255 on Wednesday while copper rose 0.4% to $3.8055.
Euro zone
European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.32% London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.02% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.33% The German DAX fell 0.33% French CAC 40 fell 0.37%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.43%.
Industrial production in the Eurozone fell by 1.1% month-over-month in July, compared to market expectations for a 0.7% decrease.
The British economy contracted by 0.5% month-over-month in July following a 0.5% growth in the prior month. The UK's trade deficit shrank to £3.446 billion in July from £4.787 billion a month ago, while industrial production declined 0.7% month-over-month in July. Manufacturing output dropped 0.8% month-over-month in July, while construction output rose by 2.8% year-over-year in July.
Asia Pacific Markets
Asian markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 falling 0.21%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index falling 0.09% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index declining 0.45%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex, meanwhile, rose 0.4%.
Producer prices in Japan increased by 3.2% year-over-year in August following a revised 3.4% growth in July, while Reuters Tankan sentiment index for manufacturers dropped to +4 in September versus August’s reading of +12.
Economics
Mortgage applications in the U.S. declined 0.8% in the week ending Sept. 8, 2023, versus a 2.9% decline in the prior period.
The annual inflation rate in the U.S. rose for a second consecutive month to 3.7% in August from 3.2% in the previous month, and also above market estimates of 3.6%. Consumer prices increased 0.6% month-over-month in August following a 0.2% growth in July.
U.S. crude oil inventories climbed by 3.954 million barrels in the week ending Sept. 8, 2023, versus market estimates of a 1.912 million decline.
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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 108,331,780 cases with around 1,174,690 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,997,820 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 695,188,410 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,914,960 deaths.
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