Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.12% to 35,300.85 while the NASDAQ rose 0.03% to 14,660.26. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.04% to 4,446.09.
The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 37,017,890 cases with around 623,320 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 32,285,850 cases and 432,510 deaths, while Brazil reported over 20,416,180 COVID-19 cases with 570,590 deaths. In total, there were at least 208,653,610 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 4,383,330 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Consumer discretionary shares rose 0.8% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Lowe's Companies, Inc. LOW, up 11% and Global-e Online Ltd. GLBE up 8%.
In trading on Wednesday, consumer staples fell 0.6%.
Top Headline
Target Corporation TGT reported better-than-expected earnings for its second quarter on Wednesday.
Target reported quarterly adjusted earnings of $3.64 per share, surpassing analysts’ expectations of $3.49 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $25.16 billion, versus estimates of $25.08 billion. The company also reported a $15 billion buyback plan.
Equities Trading UP
PharmaCyte Biotech, Inc. PMCB shares shot up 157% to $8.79 after surging over 15% on Tuesday.
Shares of SGOCO Group, Ltd. SGOC got a boost, shooting 57% to $6.77.
Virpax Pharmaceuticals, Inc. VRPX shares were also up, gaining 57% to $24.11. Virpax Pharmaceuticals shares jumped 265% on Tuesday after the company announced that it received a written pre-investigational new drug response from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for MMS019.
Check out these big movers of the day
Equities Trading DOWN
Renalytix Plc RNLX shares tumbled 21% to $21.42.
Shares of Tuya Inc. TUYA were down 20% to $11.98 after the company reported Q2 earnings results. Non-GAAP loss per ADS of $(0.04), while the company reported second-quarter FY21 revenue growth of 118% year-on-year to $84.7 million, beating the analyst consensus of $78 million. Tuya sees Q3 revenue of $83 million - $86 million below the analyst consensus of $109.9 million.
America's Car-Mart, Inc. CRMT was down, falling 11% to $143.83 despite reporting upbeat earnings and sales for the first quarter.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.1% to $66.52, while gold traded down 0.3% to $1,783.20.
Silver traded down 1.3% Wednesday to $23.345 while copper fell 1.8% to $4.13.
Euro zone
European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.1%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.8% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.2%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.3%, French CAC 40 fell 0.7% and Italy’s FTSE MIB gained 0.4%.
The consumer price inflation rate in the Eurozone was confirmed at 2.2% year-over-year in July, while construction output increased 2.8% year-over-year in June.
The consumer price inflation rate in the UK declined to 2.0% year-over-year in July from 2.5% in the prior month, while output prices rose 4.9% year-over-year in July.
Economics
US housing starts dropped 7% to an annual rate of 1.543 million units in July, while building permits increased 2.6% to an annual rate of 1.635 million.
US crude oil inventories dropped 3.234 million barrels in the August 13th week, versus a 0.447 million drop in the prior period, the Energy Information Administration said.
The Treasury is set to auction 20-year bonds at 1:00 p.m. ET.
The Federal Open Market Committee will issue minutes of its latest meeting at 2:00 p.m. ET.
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