Nasdaq Down Over 100 Points; Crude Oil Drops 5%

U.S. stocks traded lower midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite dropping more than 100 points on Wednesday.

The Dow traded down 1.52% to 31,665.62 while the NASDAQ fell 1% to 11,314.36. The S&P 500, also fell, dropping, 1.36% to 3,865.91.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

• Utilities shares rose by 1% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Xcel Energy Inc. XEL, up 3%, and WEC Energy Group, Inc. WEC, up 2%.
• In trading on Wednesday, energy shares tumbled by 4.4%.

Top Headline

Producer prices for final demand declined 0.1% month-over-month in February versus market estimates of a 0.3% growth.

Equities Trading UP

• ThermoGenesis Holdings, Inc. THMO shares shot up 95% to $4.12 after the company announced the roll out of ReadyStart cGMP Suites for early-stage cell and gene-therapy companies.
• Shares of Jounce Therapeutics, Inc. JNCE got a boost, shooting 44% to $1.5250 after the company confirmed receipt of unsolicited proposal from Concentra Biosciences to acquire 100% of the company.
• Smartsheet Inc. SMAR shares were also up, gaining 15% to $43.87 after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 results and issued strong EPS guidance.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. BLCM shares tumbled 48% to $0.45 after the company discontinued Phase 1/2 trials and initiated an evaluation of strategic alternatives.
• Shares of American Public Education, Inc. APEI were down 44% to $5.21 after the company posted downbeat Q4 results.
• Casa Systems, Inc. CASA was down, falling 41% to $2.0750 after the company reported Q4 results and said Jerry Guo will retire as President and CEO.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 5.1% to $67.67 while gold traded up 0.8% at $1,926.90.

Silver traded up 0.1% to $22.04 on Wednesday while copper fell 2.9% to $3.8875.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dipped 2.36%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 3.05% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 3.64%. The German DAX tumbled 2.73% French CAC 40 dropped 3.16% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 3.89%.

Industrial production in the Eurozone climbed by 0.7% from a month ago in January, versus a revised 1.3% drop in December. The annual inflation rate in France accelerated to 6.3% in February from 6% in the previous month. The wholesale price inflation in Germany fell for a fifth straight month to 8.9% year-over-year in February from 10.6% in the prior month.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly higher on Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 0.03%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gaining 1.52% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbing 0.55%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.59%.

Indian merchandise trade deficit shrank to $17.43 billion in February from $18.75 billion in the year-ago month. Chinese retail trade rose 3.5% from the previous year for January-February 2023, while industrial production rose 2.4% year-over-year in January-February 2023 combined.

Economics

• Mortgage applications in the US rose 6.5% in the week ended March 10, 2023, following a 7.4% increase in the prior week.
• Retail sales in the US dropped 0.4% month-over-month in February versus a revised 3.2% increase in January.
• Producer prices for final demand declined 0.1% month-over-month in February versus market estimates of a 0.3% growth.
• The NY Empire State Manufacturing Index fell to -24.6 in March from -5.8 a month ago.
• The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market index rose for a third month to a reading of 44 in March, reaching a new high since Sept. 2022.
• US business inventories declined 0.1% from a month ago in January.
• US crude oil inventories increased by 1.55 million barrels in the week ended March 10, higher than market estimates of a 1.188 million gain, the US Energy Information Administration said.

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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 105,665,980 cases with around 1,149,250 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,691,950 cases and 530,780 deaths, while France reported over 39,667,100 COVID-19 cases with 165,240 deaths. In total, there were at least 681,803,360 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,813,560 deaths.