US Stocks Edge Lower Ahead Of Fed Decision; Nike Earnings Top Estimates

U.S. stocks traded slightly lower this morning. The Federal Reserve is scheduled to conclude a two-day policy meeting today, with markets expecting a 25 basis-point rate hike.

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.04% to 32,548.45 while the NASDAQ fell 0.06% to 11,852.83. The S&P 500, also fell, dropping, 0.05% to 4,000.96.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

• Information technology shares rose by 0.4% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Perfect Corp. PERF, up 8%, and DoubleVerify Holdings, Inc. DV, up 2%.
• In trading on Wednesday, real estate shares fell 1.9%.

Top Headline

Nike Inc NKE reported better-than-expected fiscal third-quarter results and increased its full-year revenue forecast.

Nike said revenue increased 14% year-over-year to $12.4 billion, which beat average analyst estimates of $11.47 billion. The company reported quarterly earnings of $0.79 per share, which beat consensus estimates of 55 cents per share.

Equities Trading UP

• Maxpro Capital Acquisition Corp. JMAC shares shot up 69% to $14.92 after dropping 24% on Tuesday.
• Shares of 89bio, Inc. ETNB got a boost, shooting 39% to $15.14 after the company's Phase 2b ENLIVEN trial of pegozafermin in NASH achieved statistical significance on both primary histology endpoints.
• GameStop Corp. GME shares were also up, gaining 35% to $23.88 after the company turned in a profitable quarter for the first time in two years.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Luokung Technology Corp. LKCO shares tumbled 28% to $2.11 after the company announced a 30-to-1 share combination.
• Shares of Edible Garden AG Incorporated EDBL were down 27% to $3.00 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q4 financial results.
• Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc. WOOF was down, falling 15% to $8.64 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q4 EPS and issued soft 2023 guidance.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.3% to $69.47 while gold traded up 0.2% at $1,944.70.

Silver traded up 0.2% to $22.47 on Wednesday while copper rose 0.6% to $4.0185.

Euro zone

European shares were slightly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.2%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.1% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.1%. The German DAX gained 0.4%, French CAC 40 climbed 0.3% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.1%.

Annual inflation rate in the UK rose to 10.4% in February from 10.1% in the previous month. Italian current account deficit narrowed to EUR 5.225 billion in January from EUR 5.470 billion in the year-ago period.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed higher on Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 1.93%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rising 1.73% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index gaining 0.31%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.24%.

The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Leading Economic Index in Australia slipped 0.06% from a month ago in February following a 0.12% decline in the earlier month.

Economics

Mortgage applications in the US increased 3% in the week ended March 17, 2023, data from the Mortgage Bankers Association showed.

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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 105,988,110 cases with around 1,151,880 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,698,110 cases and 530,810 deaths, while France reported over 39,716,260 COVID-19 cases with 165,410 deaths. In total, there were at least 682,804,380 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,821,670 deaths.