Dow Surges Over 100 Points; US Inflation Rate Slows In March

U.S. stocks traded higher this morning, with the Dow Jones gaining over 100 points on Wednesday.

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.37% to 33,807.85 while the NASDAQ rose 0.04% to 12,036.34. The S&P 500, also rose, gaining, 0.21% to 4,117.61.

Check This Out: $4M Bet On Jasper Therapeutics? Check Out These 3 Penny Stocks Insiders Are Aggressively Buying

Leading and Lagging Sectors

• Financial shares rose by 0.7% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included SiriusPoint Ltd. SPNT, up 12%, and Evercore Inc.. EVR, up 4%.
• In trading on Wednesday, information technology fell by 0.3%.

Top Headline

The headline CPI came in at 5% year-on-year in March, down from 6% in February, according to data the Labor Department reported on Tuesday. The closely watched inflation reading was below average economist estimates of 5.2%. This marked the lowest inflation print since May 2021.

On a month-over-month basis, CPI was up 0.1%, which was also lower than the estimates of 0.2%.

Equities Trading UP

• TESSCO Technologies Incorporated TESS shares shot up 87% to $8.78 as it agreed to be acquired by entities affiliated with Lee Equity Partners and Twin Point Capital for $9.00 in cash, resulting in an enterprise value of ~$161.4 million.
• Shares of Triton International Limited TRTN got a boost, shooting 32% to $83.03 after Brookfield Infrastructure announced it will acquire the company for consideration valued at $85 per share.
• Rosecliff Acquisition Corp I RCLF shares were also up, gaining 23% to $12.96 after gaining 5% on Tuesday.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Cutera, Inc. CUTR shares dropped 28% to $19.46 after the company announced the immediate terminations of Executive Chairman Daniel Plants and CEO David Mowry for cause and withdrew 2023 outlook.
• Shares of ContextLogic Inc. WISH were down 18% to $8.06. ContextLogic, on Tuesday, announced a 1-for-30 reverse stock split.
• Innovative Eyewear, Inc. LUCY was down, falling 13% to $3.83. Innovative Eyewear filed patent for ChatGPT enabled smart eyewear.

Also Check This Out: These 3 Health Care Stocks Delivering High-Dividend Yields Are Recommended By Wall Street's Most Accurate Analysts

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.3% to $82.59 while gold traded up 0.2% at $2,022.80.

Silver traded up 0.5% to $25.305 on Wednesday while copper rose 0.3% to $4.0310.

Stocks of crude oil in the US rose by 0.377 million barrels in the week ended April 7, 2023, versus a 4.3 million barrel decline in the earlier week, the API said.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.3%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.6% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.7%. The German DAX rose 0.4%, French CAC 40 rose 0.4% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.9%.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly higher on Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 0.57%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index falling 0.86% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index gaining 0.41%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.4%.

The value of loans in Japan rose 3% year-over-year in March following a 3.3% increase in February. Producer prices in Japan climbed by 7.2% year-over-year in March, while core machinery orders slipped 4.5% month-over-month in February.

Economics

• Mortgage applications in the US increased 5.3% in the week ended April 7, 2023, versus a 4.1% decline in the prior week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.
• The headline CPI came in at 5% year-on-year in March, down from 6% in February, according to data the Labor Department reported on Tuesday. The closely watched inflation reading was below average economist estimates of 5.2%. This marked the lowest inflation print since May 2021.

Now Read This: Top 5 Financial Stocks That Are Set To Fly In April

COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 106,385,350 cases with around 1,157,190 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,776,000 cases and 531,010 deaths, while France reported over 39,853,250 COVID-19 cases with 165,850 deaths. In total, there were at least 685,156,170 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,838,920 deaths.