Nasdaq Edges Higher; Bed Bath & Beyond Shares Plunge

U.S. stocks traded mostly lower toward the end of trading, with the Dow Jones dropping more than 100 points on Wednesday

The Dow traded down 0.33% to 31,684.89 while the NASDAQ rose 0.04% to 11,887.33. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 0.18% to 3,978.98.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares rose by 0.7% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings, Inc. LTRPB, up 12% and Snap Inc. SNAP up 9%.

In trading on Wednesday, materials shares tumbled by 0.8%.

Top Headline

US crude oil inventories dropped by 3.326 million barrels in the week ended August 26th, compared to analysts’ expectations for a 1.483-million-barrel decline, the EIA said.

Equities Trading UP

• Yiren Digital Ltd. YRD shares shot up 45% to $1.0238 after reporting unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021.
• Shares of Nuwellis, Inc. NUWE got a boost, shooting 123% to $1.47 after the company announced new clinical data demonstrating 100% survival at 30 days following the use of ultrafiltration in high-risk postoperative coronary artery bypass grafting patients.
• ChargePoint Holdings, Inc. CHPT shares were also up, gaining 17% to $16.89 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 sales results.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. BBBY shares tumbled 21% to $9.56 after the company issued Q2 sales guidance below analyst estimates and guided a Q2 comparable sales decline of approximately 26%. The company also announced cost optimization plans, which include job cuts and a discontinuation of three of its nine labels. Additionally, the company filed for a stock shelf offering.
• Shares of NewAge, Inc. NBEV were down 38% to $0.2254 after the company announced it filed a voluntary petition for relief under chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.
• Express, Inc. EXPR was down, falling 21% to $1.5250 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q2 sales results and issued guidance.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.8% to $90.04, while gold traded down 0.7% at $1,724.70.

Silver traded down 2.2% to $17.89 on Wednesday while copper fell 1% to $3.5165.

Euro zone

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 1.12%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 1.05%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 1.17%. The German DAX dropped 0.97%, French CAC 40 fell 1.17% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 1.22%.

Annual inflation rate in the Eurozone increased to 9.1% in August from 8.9% in the previous month, while annual inflation rate in Italy accelerated to 8.4% from 7.9%.

The French economy grew 0.5% on quarter in the second quarter compared to a 0.2% drop in the previous quarter, while annual inflation rate in the country fell to 5.8% in August from 6.1% in the earlier month. Import prices in Germany rose by 28.9% year-over-year in July.

Economics

• US private businesses hired 132,000 workers in August compared to 268,000 in July, the ADP said. It is the smallest addition since the beginning of 2021.
• The Chicago PMI rose slightly to 52.2 in August from 52.1 in the previous month.
• US crude oil inventories dropped by 3.326 million barrels in the week ended August 26th, compared to analysts’ expectations for a 1.483-million-barrel decline.
• Data on farm prices for July will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.
• Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Lorie Logan will speak at 6:00 p.m. ET.
• Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is set to speak at 6:30 p.m. ET.

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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 96,149,010 cases with around 1,069,740 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,429,250 cases and 527,870 deaths, while France reported over 34,509,960 COVID-19 cases with 154,030 deaths. In total, there were at least 607,452,440 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,492,730 deaths.