Dow Rises 75 Points; Fed Increases Rates By 25bps

U.S. stocks traded higher toward the end of trading, with the Dow Jones gaining around 75 points on Wednesday.

The Dow traded up 0.23% to 32,635.71 while the NASDAQ rose 0.65% to 11,932.62. The S&P 500, also rose, gaining, 0.34% to 4,016.52.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

• Information technology shares rose by 0.8% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included inTEST Corporation INTT, up 12%, and ZeroFox Holdings, Inc. ZFOX, up 7%.
• In trading on Wednesday, real estate shares fell 1.6%.

Top Headline

The Federal Reserve increased the fed funds rate by 25bps to 4.75%-5% at its meeting, sending borrowing costs to new highs since 2007.

Equities Trading UP

• Virgin Orbit Holdings, Inc. VORB shares shot up 56% to $0.6901 following a report suggesting the company is nearing a $200 million investment through a private share placement. The company also said it will initiate an incremental resumption of operations beginning Mar. 23.
• Shares of 89bio, Inc. ETNB got a boost, shooting 29% to $14.15 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 39% to $24.55 after the company turned in a profitable quarter for the first time in two years.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Luokung Technology Corp. LKCO shares tumbled 31% to $2.03 after the company announced a 30-to-1 share combination.
• Shares of Edible Garden AG Incorporated EDBL were down 35% to $2.6550 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q4 financial results.
• Muscle Maker, Inc. GRIL was down, falling 17% to $1.04 after the company reported Q4 results.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.9% to $70.28 while gold traded up 0.6% at $1,952.10.

Silver traded up 1.7% to $22.81 on Wednesday while copper rose 1.2% to $4.0415.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.15%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.41% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.44%. The German DAX gained 0.14%, French CAC 40 climbed 0.26% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.12%.

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.
• US crude oil inventories increased by 1.1170 million barrels in the week ended March 17, 2023, versus market estimates of a 1.565 million-barrel decline, according to the recent US Energy Information Administration report.
• The Federal Reserve increased the fed funds rate by 25bps to 4.75%-5% at its meeting, sending borrowing costs to new highs since 2007.

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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.