U.S. stocks traded higher toward the end of trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining around 0.5% on Wednesday.
The Dow traded up 0.08% to 40,867.75 while the NASDAQ rose 0.49% to 17,903.01. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.37% to 5,618.02.
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Leading and Lagging Sectors
Consumer discretionary shares climbed by 1.2% on Wednesday.
In trading on Wednesday, financials shares fell by 0.3%.
Top Headline
TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) reported strong second-quarter performance and raised its fiscal 2025 profit outlook.
TJX reported second-quarter earnings per share of 96 cents (+13%), beating the analyst consensus of 91 cents. Quarterly sales of $13.468 billion (+6%) outpaced the street view of $13.307 billion.
Equities Trading UP
- BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BBAI) shares shot up 31% to $1.7384 after the company received an award as a subcontractor to Concept Solutions.
- Shares of PROCEPT BioRobotics Corporation (NASDAQ:PRCT) got a boost, surging 29% to $83.76 after the company announced FDA 510(k) clearance of its HYDROS Robotic system.
- Stronghold Digital Mining, Inc. (NASDAQ:SDIG) shares were also up, gaining 67% to $4.89 after the company announced it entered into a definitive merger agreement to be acquired by Bitfarms.
Equities Trading DOWN
- Eyenovia, Inc. (NASDAQ:EYEN) shares dropped 35% to $0.4438 after the company announced the pricing of $5.14 million public offering.
- Shares of Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) were down 12% to $15.55 following weak quarterly sales.
- PagSeguro Digital Ltd. (NYSE:PAGS) was down, falling 12% to $12.78 following second-quarter results.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 2.2% to $71.60 while gold traded down 0.1% at $2,547.20.
Silver traded down 0.1% to $29.51 on Wednesday, while copper rose 0.7% to $4.1890.
Euro zone
European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 gained 0.33%, Germany's DAX rose 0.50% and France's CAC 40 gained 0.52%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 0.24%, while London's FTSE 100 rose 0.12%.
The annual inflation rate in the Eurozone increased to 2.6% in July from 2.5% in the prior month, while current account surplus rose to €52.4 billion in June from €32.4 billion a year ago. Italy’s current account surplus widened to EUR 4,885 billion in June from EUR 1,248 billion in the year-ago period. Producer prices in Germany fell by 0.8% year-over-year in July.
Asia Pacific Markets
Asian markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 0.29%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index falling 0.69%, China's Shanghai Composite Index falling 0.35% and India's BSE Sensex rising 0.13%.
The annual inflation rate in Hong Kong increased to 2.5% in July from 1.5% in the prior month. The People’s Bank of China kept key lending rates unchanged at the recent fixing.
Economics
- Mortgage applications in the U.S. declined by 10.1% from the prior week in the week ending Aug. 16.
- Crude oil inventories in the U.S. fell by 4.649 million barrels in the week ending Aug. 16, compared to market expectations for a decline of 2.72 million barrels.
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