Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Benzinga
Benzinga
Business
Lisa Levin

Mid-Afternoon Market Update: US Stocks Pare Losses; S&P 500 Turns Higher

US stocks pared losses toward the end of trading on Wednesday following the release of Fed minutes.

The Dow traded down 0.09% to 34,957.54 while the NASDAQ fell 0.17% to 14,115.37. The S&P, however, gained 0.15% to 4,477.98.

Check out this: Insiders Buy More Than $18M Of 4 Stocks


Leading and Lagging Sectors


Energy shares climbed 1.7% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included NextDecade Corporation (NASDAQ:NEXT), up 10% and FLEX LNG Ltd. (NYSE:FLNG) up 10%.


In trading on Wednesday, information technology shares tumbled by 1.2%.


Top Headline


US crude-oil inventories gained 1.1 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said.


Equities Trading UP


Upstart Holdings, Inc.. (NASDAQ:UPST) shares shot up 35% to $146.79 after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 results and issued sales guidance above estimates. The company also announced a $400 million buyback.


Shares of HOOKIPA Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ:HOOK) got a boost, shooting 58% to $2.1150. Hookipa Pharma amended and restated collaboration and license agreement with Gilead Sciences for arenaviral immunotherapy as a component of a potential functional curative regimen for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).


Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GNRC) shares were also up, gaining 15% to $317.88 after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 EPS and sales results.


Also check out this: Executives Sell Over $50M Of 4 Stocks


Equities Trading DOWN

Masimo Corporation (NASDAQ:MASI) shares tumbled 36% to $147.48 after the company reported Q4 earnings results and announced an agreement to acquire Sound United.


Shares of Roblox Corporation (NYSE:RBLX) were down 25% to $54.96 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q4 EPS results.


Wix.com Ltd. (NASDAQ:WIX) was down, falling 29% to $82.04 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q4 sales results.

Also check out this: Executives Buying These 5 Penny Stocks


Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2.7% to $94.55, while gold traded up 0.6% to $1,867.20.


Silver traded up 0.7% Wednesday to $23.515 while copper rose 0.6% to $4.5565.



Euro zone

European shares closed mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.04%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.07%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.22%. The German DAX dropped 0.28%, French CAC 40 fell 0.21% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.01%.

Annual inflation rate in the UK rose to 5.5% in January from 5.4% in December, while headline rate of output prices in the country accelerated to 9.9% year-over-year in January.


Economics


US retail sales increased 3.8% from a month ago in January versus a revised 2.5% decline in December. Analysts, however, were expecting for a 2% growth in retail sales.


The price index for US imports increased 2% from a month ago in January, while prices for US exports rose 2.9% in January.


US industrial production rose 1.4% for January.


US business inventories rose 2.1% for December.


The housing market index fell to 82.00 in February from prior reading of 83.00.


US crude-oil inventories gained 1.1 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said.


The Federal Open Market Committee released minutes of its latest meeting.

Also check out: ZoomInfo And 3 Other Stocks Sold By Insiders


COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 79,639,930 cases with around 949,260 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 42,723,550 cases and 509,900 deaths, while Brazil reported over 27,664,950 COVID-19 cases with 639,820 deaths. In total, there were at least 416,438,640 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 5,858,920 deaths.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.