Benzinga - by Piero Cingari, Benzinga Staff Writer.
A session marked by sector rotation is unfolding on Wednesday, with the tech sector giving back some of Tuesday’s gains, making way for the advance of energy and materials sectors following a surge in commodities prices.
The S&P 500 remained flat at 1 p.m. in New York, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 declined by 0.5%. In contrast, blue-chip and small-cap stocks saw increases of 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively.
Treasury yields saw a slight uptick, causing the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (NASDAQ:TLT) to decline for the fifth consecutive session.
Commodities emerged as the strongest performers in the market. Copper surged by over 3%, reaching highs last observed in April 2023 as China announced plans to reduce output. Silver rose by 3.6% to $25/oz, the highest level since early December 2023, driven by growing demand for precious metals.
Gold was up 1%, on track to erase Tuesday’s losses, driven by a sharper-than-expected inflation surge in February.
Oil prices saw a nearly 2% surge, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rebounding to $79 a barrel, following a larger-than-anticipated decline in U.S. crude inventories last week.
Wednesday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs
| Major Indices & ETFs | Price | 1-Day %Chg |
| Russell 2000 | 2,079.28 | 0.7% |
| Dow Jones | 39,190.39 | 0.5% |
| S&P 500 | 5,177.94 | 0.1% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 18,103.23 | -0.6% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) was flat at $516.85, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) inched 0.5% higher to $392.60 and the tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) fell 0.6% to $441.06, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Sector-wise, the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE), was the top performer, up by 1.7%, followed by the Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLB), up by 1.5%, while the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) trailed, down by 1%.
Wednesday’s Stock Movers
- Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR) tumbled nearly 15% after the company missed both quarterly earnings and revenue estimates.
- Southern Copper Corp. (NYSE:SCCO) rallied over 10% in response to copper price gains. Other miners rallying Wednesday were Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX), up 7%, and Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE:VLO), up nearly 6%.
- Williams-Sonoma Inc. (NYSE:WSM) soared nearly 20% on stronger-than-expected quarterly results.
- PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) rose 4% after the fintech company announced a new chief enterprise services officer.
- Carnival Corp. (NYSE:CCL) rose over 3% following a bullish note from Goldman Sachs.
- Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell over 3% after Wells Fargo downgraded the stock from Equal-weight to Underweight and adjusted its price target from $200 to $125.
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