Benzinga - U.S. stocks traded lower this morning, with the Dow Jones dropping more than 500 points on Wednesday.
Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded down 1.69% to 31,612.42 while the NASDAQ fell 1.26% to 11,284.65. The S&P 500, also fell, dropping, 1.64% to 3,855.15.
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Leading and Lagging Sectors
- Utilities shares fell by just 0.3% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: XEL), up 1%, and CMS Energy Corporation (NYSE: CMS), up 1%.
- In trading on Wednesday, energy shares tumbled by 4.3%.
Top Headline
Producer prices for final demand declined 0.1% month-over-month in February versus market estimates of a 0.3% growth.
Equities Trading UP
- ThermoGenesis Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: THMO) shares shot up 85% to $3.9050 after the company announced the roll out of ReadyStart cGMP Suites for early-stage cell and gene-therapy companies.
- Shares of Ambipar Emergency Response (NYSE: AMBI) got a boost, shooting 24% to $15.15.
- Smartsheet Inc. (NYSE: SMAR) shares were also up, gaining 17% to $45.02 after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 results and issued strong EPS guidance.
Equities Trading DOWN
- CXApp Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: CXAI) shares tumbled 47% to $5.22.
- Shares of American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ: APEI) were down 46% to $5.04 after the company posted downbeat Q4 results.
- Casa Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CASA) was down, falling 35% to $2.2599 after the company reported Q4 results and said Jerry Guo will retire as President and CEO.
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Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 4.1% to $68.40 while gold traded up 1% at $1,929.80.
Silver traded up 0.8% to $22.215 on Wednesday while copper fell 2.7% to $3.8960.
Euro zone
European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dipped 2.5%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 3% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 4.3%. The German DAX tumbled 2.9% French CAC 40 dropped 3.4% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 4%.
Industrial production in the Eurozone climbed by 0.7% from a month ago in January, versus a revised 1.3% drop in December. The annual inflation rate in France accelerated to 6.3% in February from 6% in the previous month. The wholesale price inflation in Germany fell for a fifth straight month to 8.9% year-over-year in February from 10.6% in the prior month.
Asia Pacific Markets
Asian markets closed mostly higher on Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 0.03%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gaining 1.52% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbing 0.55%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.59%.
Indian merchandise trade deficit shrank to $17.43 billion in February from $18.75 billion in the year-ago month. Chinese retail trade rose 3.5% from the previous year for January-February 2023, while industrial production rose 2.4% year-over-year in January-February 2023 combined.
Economics
- Mortgage applications in the US rose 6.5% in the week ended March 10, 2023, following a 7.4% increase in the prior week.
- Retail sales in the US dropped 0.4% month-over-month in February versus a revised 3.2% increase in January.
- Producer prices for final demand declined 0.1% month-over-month in February versus market estimates of a 0.3% growth.
- The NY Empire State Manufacturing Index fell to -24.6 in March from -5.8 a month ago.
- The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market index rose for a third month to a reading of 44 in March, reaching a new high since Sept. 2022.
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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 105,665,980 cases with around 1,149,250 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,691,950 cases and 530,780 deaths, while France reported over 39,667,100 COVID-19 cases with 165,240 deaths. In total, there were at least 681,803,360 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,813,560 deaths.
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