The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished Wednesday's trade as the strongest performer among its rival large-cap indexes, but the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq composite rose by enough to stretch a rally sparked by mixed inflation data that boosted rate-cut expectations.
Small caps also extended their gains. However, some growth stocks lost their luster on the stock market today.
The Dow ended up 1%, or around 463 points, led by UnitedHealth and Nike as shares in each rose more than 3%. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite tacked on 0.1%. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq composite logged fresh record highs, building on Tuesday's advance when traders pushed rate-cut odds to a near certainty for the Federal Reserve's September meeting, following July inflation and employment data.
More inflation data will land on Thursday when the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its producer price index, or PPI, data for July. PPI is seen rising 0.2% in July from June, and 2.6% year over year.
The move follows Tuesday's 2.99% gain, the highest percentage increase since May 12 this year, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Also on Tuesday, the index closed above its Inauguration Day closing high of 2,275.88 on Jan. 20.
Volume on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq was higher compared with the same time on Tuesday. Advancers led by nearly 4-to-1 on the NYSE and nearly 3-to-1 on the Nasdaq.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 4.24% Crude oil traded at around $62.75 a barrel.
3:26 p.m. ET
Stock Market Today: Bullish Soars On Debut
In Wednesday's action, crypto play Bullish popped on its first day of trading. Stock in the parent of crypto data and analytics platform CoinDesk opened at 90 shortly after 1 p.m. on the New York Stock Exchange. That was well above the company's initial public offering price of 37. Shares catapulted more than 200% to a high of 118. The offering is expected to close on Thursday.
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2:32 p.m. ET
CoreWeave, Cava Plunge
Meanwhile, Cava Group and Nvidia-backed CoreWeave tumbled following quarterly results, and investors were set to receive results from Dow constituent Cisco Systems after the close.
1:39 p.m. ET
Rigetti Computing Reports Losses
In quantum computing stocks, Rigetti Computing reversed lower in afternoon trade after the company reported continuing losses in its second quarter late Tuesday. A loss of 13 cents per share was wider than its loss of 7 cents per share a year ago. Sales of $1.8 million dropped 41%. Wall Street was looking for a loss of 5 cents a share on $1.9 million in revenue.
11:52 a.m. ET
Stock Market Today: Growth Stocks Lag In IBD 50
But growth stocks underperformed, pulling the IBD 50 ETF down 1.2%. Among the components, property insurance stock Lemonade and lidar sensors maker Ouster extended their post-earnings rallies. Two health care stocks took the lead: BeOne Medicines and Guardant Health leaped 11% and 4%, respectively. BeOne is in a buy zone above a buy point of 287.88. Losers included Robinhood and Interactive Brokers.
Earnings moved finance software provider Intapp. Shares jumped nearly 12% after its fourth-quarter results surpassed expectations. Earnings of 27 cents per share grew 80% and sales increased 18% to $135 million. Shares remain below a downward-sloping 50-day moving average.
Wednesday saw a breakout in biotech stock Incyte. Shares tested a buy point of 83.95 in an early-stage consolidation.
Back to large caps, Dow component Cisco slid in a buy zone above a buy point of 69.78 ahead of its earnings report due late Wednesday. Analysts polled by FactSet estimate earnings of 98 cents per share on sales of $14.6 billion.
Elsewhere, West Texas Intermediate futures fell, trading around $62.40 a barrel. The International Energy Agency says it expects global oil supply to grow to 2.5 million barrels per day in 2025.
10:55 a.m. ET
Restaurant Stocks Move On Earnings
In stocks, Cava sank nearly 17% on worse-than-anticipated second-quarter sales results. The company expects same-restaurant sales growth for the full year to come in at 5%, lower than its previous guidance of 7%. Shares had been holding support at the 50-day moving average but fell below it in higher volume on Wednesday, triggering a sell signal. Cava posted quarterly earnings of 16 cents per share on sales of $280.6 million.
Among other restaurant stocks, Brinker International posted fourth-quarter results that beat expectations. Shares were slightly higher, coming off stronger levels. Earnings of $2.49 per share grew 55% while sales increased 21% to $1.5 billion. For the full year, the company expects earnings of $10.20 per share at the midpoint on sales of $5.65 billion.
We-Chat operator Tencent jumped after second-quarter results. Shares are extended from a buy point of 66.74. Earnings beat expectations, rising to 55.6 billion yuan, or $7.8 million, and sales increased 15% from the year-earlier quarter.
Bullish is the latest crypto play to go public. Shares were due to start trading on the New York Stock Exchange after an initial offering price was set at 37.
The 10-year Treasury yield ticked lower to 4.25%.
9:46 a.m. ET
Nasdaq-100 Winners, Losers: AMD, DoorDash
Within the Nasdaq -100 index, Advanced Micro Devices and Palo Alto Networks were among the best performers at the market open. AMD stock rallied 4.8%, hitting a new 52-week high. Palo Alto shares rose 1.8%, on pace to add to Tuesday's 4.3% advance.
On the downside, Intel and DoorDash declined 1.3% and 1.2%, respectively.
8:53 a.m. ET
Dow Jones Movers: 3M, American Express, Cisco, Nike, UnitedHealth
Inside the Dow Jones Industrial Average, 3M, American Express, Cisco Systems, Nike and UnitedHealth Group were among the top performers in early morning trading.
3M stock climbed 0.6%, looking to extend a win streak to seven sessions, while American Express shares gained 0.8%.
Cisco stock rose 0.5%, in buying range above a 69.78 entry. The networking giant will report earnings late Wednesday.
Nike stock moved up 0.7% Wednesday premarket, while UnitedHealth advanced 1.7%, on pace to add to Tuesday's 3.7% rally.
8:29 a.m. ET
Stock Market Today: Circle Stock Sells Off On Share Offering
Late Tuesday, Circle Internet announced that it is offering up to 10 million shares in a public offering, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company plans to offer 2 million shares of its common stock, while selling stockholders are offering 8 million shares. Underwriters also have a 30-day option to purchase up to 1.5 million shares.
Circle stock sold off nearly 3% premarket Wednesday.
8:08 a.m. ET
Nvidia-Backed CoreWeave, Cava Stock Plunge
Nvidia-backed CoreWeave reported a higher-than-expected second-quarter loss while revenue beat Wall Street estimates amid surging artificial intelligence compute demand. But CoreWeave stock dived 9% Wednesday as investors digested a smaller revenue beat than in the March quarter and updated guidance.
Nvidia owns a 7% stake in CoreWeave and is a strategic partner.
Meanwhile, restaurant chain Cava plunged 24% after the company reported worse-than-expected Q2 sales results. The Mediterranean fast-casual eatery also cut its full-year same-store sales outlook.
Stock Market Today: S&P 500, Nasdaq Hit New Highs
The stock market rally posted a strong, broad advance Tuesday, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 acing fresh highs. The July CPI report showed core inflation picking up, helping to boost the odds of a Fed rate cut in September.
As it stands now, futures traders currently think there's a 94% chance of a quarter-point cut at the Federal Reserve's September meeting, according to the CME FedWatch tool. After that, the market is still debating whether monetary policymakers will cut rates at their October or December meeting.
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