Gold Down Over 1%; Williams-Sonoma Posts Strong Earnings

U.S. stocks traded mixed midway through trading, with the S&P 500 edging lower on Wednesday.

The Dow traded down 0.12% to 39,825.66 while the NASDAQ rose 0.07% to 16,843.82. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 0.04% to 5,319.28.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares rose by 0.3% on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell by 1.6%.

Top Headline

Williams-Sonoma, Inc WSM reported better-than-expected first-quarter FY24 earnings.

The company reported a first-quarter FY24 sales decline of 5% year-on-year to $1.66 billion, meeting the analyst consensus estimate. Comparable brand revenue for the quarter declined 4.9%. Adjusted EPS of $4.07 beat the analyst consensus estimate of $2.70.

Equities Trading UP
                       

• Akoustis Technologies, Inc. AKTS shares shot up 141% to $0.3320 after the company reportedly floated the probability of bankruptcy after losing a lawsuit against Qorvo.
• Shares of Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. BNED got a boost, surging 80% to $0.9718 on continued volatility. Greenhaven last week said it continues to explore a possible transaction with the company.
• Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc. WOOF shares were also up, gaining 28% to $3.1350 following better-than-expected quarterly financial results.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Edible Garden AG Incorporated EDBL shares dropped 50% to $2.1508 after the company announced the pricing of a $6 million public offering.
• Shares of Biodexa Pharmaceuticals Plc BDRX were down 40% to $1.39 after the company announced $7 million of gross proceeds from warrant exercises.
• Oragenics, Inc. OGEN was down, falling 32% to $2.0628. Oragenics named William “Frank” Peacock MD as Chief Clinical Officer.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.9% to $77.99 while gold traded down 1.3% at $2,395.10.

Silver traded down 1.9% to $31.46 on Wednesday, while copper fell 4.7% to $4.8685.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.50%, Germany's DAX fell 0.27% and France's CAC 40 dipped 0.73%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 0.11%, while London's FTSE 100 fell 0.82%.

The annual inflation rate in the UK fell to 2.3% in April from 3.2% in March, while producer prices rose 1.1% year-over-year in April.

Passenger car registrations in the European Union jumped 13.7% year-over-year to 914 thousand units in April.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Wednesday, with Japan's Nikkei falling 0.85%, China's Composite Index gaining 0.02%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index falling 0.13% and India's S&P BSE Sensex gaining 0.2%.

Japanese trade deficit rose to JPY 462,50 billion in April compared to a year-ago gap of JPY 429,79 billion. Japan’s core machinery orders climbed 2.9% month-over-month to 913 billion yen in March.

Economics

• U.S. mortgage applications rose by 1.9% from the prior week in the period ending May 17, compared to a 0.5% gain in the prior week.
• U.S. existing home sales fell 1.9% month-over-month to an annualized rate of 4.14 million units in April versus a revised 4.22 million in the prior month.
• U.S. crude oil inventories climbed by 1.825 million barrels in the week ending May 17, compared to a 2.508 million decline in the prior period, the EIA said. However, analysts were expecting a 2.55 million barrel decline.

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