Dow Dips 150 Points; Nasdaq Down 1%

U.S. stocks traded lower toward the end of trading, with the Dow Jones dropping around 150 points on Wednesday.

The Dow traded down 0.53% to 30,362.09 while the NASDAQ fell 1.04% to 10,660.20. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 0.85% to 3,688.28.

Also check this: Dow Rises Over 300 Points As Market Volatility Decreases

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed 2.2% on Wednesday. Leading the sector was strength from KLX Energy Services Holdings, Inc. KLXE and Oil States International, Inc. OIS.

In trading on Wednesday, real estate shares dipped 2.9%.

Top Headline

 

Procter & Gamble Co PG reported better-than-expected Q1 results.

The company reported first-quarter FY23 sales growth of 1% year-on-year to $20.61 billion, beating the consensus of $20.44 billion. Adjusted EPS of $1.57 beat the consensus of $1.56.

P&G maintained its outlook for FY23 organic sales growth to be 3% - 5% compared to 2022. The company reduced its guidance range for FY23 for all-in sales, with sales to be down 3% to down 1% (prior view in-line to up 2%) versus the prior fiscal year.

 

Equities Trading UP

 

• RedHill Biopharma Ltd. RDHL shares shot up 40% to $0.65 after the company announced its oral broad-acting antiviral, Opaganib, was granted a new COVID-19 treatment patent.
• Shares of HV Bancorp, Inc. HVBC got a boost, shooting 29% to $25.85. Citizens Financial Services and HV Bancorp signed definitive merger agreement for $67.4 million.
• Scopus BioPharma Inc. SCPS shares were also up, gaining 51% to $0.3699 after the company on Tuesday announced the completion of its recapitalization.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Olaplex Holdings, Inc. OLPX shares tumbled 51% to $4.8250 after the company issued Q3 and FY22 sales guidance below analyst estimates.
• Shares of Generac Holdings Inc. GNRC were down 25% to $111.03 after the company reported preliminary Q3 EPS results are lower year over year. The company also lowered its FY22 net sales growth guidance and net income margin.
• Sientra, Inc. SIEN was down, falling 33% to $0.4062 after the company announced a proposed public offering.

Also check out: Carnival, Amazon, Iamgold And Other Big Gainers From Tuesday

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2.4% to $84.81, while gold traded down 1.3% at $1,634.00.

Silver traded down 1.3% to $18.36 on Wednesday while copper fell 1.3% to $3.3175.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.53%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.17% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.36%. The German DAX dropped 0.19%, French CAC 40 fell 0.43% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.22%.

The Eurozone annual inflation rate fell to 9.9% in September versus a preliminary reading of 10.0%, while construction output in the region climbed 2.3% year-over-year in August.

The annual inflation rate in the UK accelerated to 10.1% in September from 9.9% in the previous month, while producer inflation climbed 15.9% year-over-year in September slowing from a revised 16.4% increase a month ago.

 

Economics

 

• Housing starts in the US dipped 8.1% to an annualized rate of 1.439 million in September compared to a revised 1.566 million in the prior month. Building permits rose 1.4% month-over-month to an annualized 1.564 million during the month.
• US crude-oil inventories declined 1.7 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said.
• The Federal Open Market Committee released its Beige Book report.
• Chicago Fed President Charles Evans will speak at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Check out this: Why Fear Level Among US Investors Is Decreasing

COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 98,907,740 cases with around 1,091,080 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,634,370 cases and 528,920 deaths, while France reported over 36,355,690 COVID-19 cases with 156,080 deaths. In total, there were at least 630,977,790 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,574,490 deaths.