Dow Drops 100 Points; US Crude Oil Inventories Decline Higher-Than-Expected Last Week

U.S. stocks traded lower midway through trading, with the Dow Jones dropping around 100 points on Wednesday

The Dow traded down 0.32% to 31,687.69 while the NASDAQ fell 0.25% to 11,852.97. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 0.24% to 3,976.55.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares rose by 0.7% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Weibo Corporation WB, up 7% and Snap Inc. SNAP up 8%.

In trading on Wednesday, consumer discretionary shares tumbled by 0.9%.

Top Headline

US crude oil inventories dropped by 3.326 million barrels in the week ended August 26th, compared to analysts’ expectations for a 1.483-million-barrel decline, the EIA said.

Equities Trading UP

Yiren Digital Ltd. YRD shares shot up 39% to $0.9825 after reporting unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021.

Shares of Nuwellis, Inc. NUWE got a boost, shooting 127% to $1.5010 after the company announced new clinical data demonstrating 100% survival at 30 days following the use of ultrafiltration in high-risk postoperative coronary artery bypass grafting patients.

Burning Rock Biotech Limited BNR shares were also up, gaining 22% to $3.96 following Q2 results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. BBBY shares tumbled 22% to $9.45 after the company issued Q2 sales guidance below analyst estimates and guided a Q2 comparable sales decline of approximately 26%. The company also announced cost optimization plans, which include job cuts and a discontinuation of three of its nine labels. Additionally, the company filed for a stock shelf offering.

Shares of NewAge, Inc. NBEV were down 40% to $0.2180 after the company announced it filed a voluntary petition for relief under chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.

Express, Inc. EXPR was down, falling 20% to $1.5350 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q2 sales results and issued guidance.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.4% to $90.40, while gold traded down 0.4% at $1,729.90.

Silver traded down 2.1% to $17.905 on Wednesday while copper fell 1.2% to $3.5095.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.61%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.99%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 1.11%. The German DAX dropped 0.81%, French CAC 40 fell 1.17% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 1.16%.

Annual inflation rate in the Eurozone increased to 9.1% in August from 8.9% in the previous month, while annual inflation rate in Italy accelerated to 8.4% from 7.9%.

The French economy grew 0.5% on quarter in the second quarter compared to a 0.2% drop in the previous quarter, while annual inflation rate in the country fell to 5.8% in August from 6.1% in the earlier month. Import prices in Germany rose by 28.9% year-over-year in July.

Economics

US private businesses hired 132,000 workers in August compared to 268,000 in July, the ADP said. It is the smallest addition since the beginning of 2021.

The Chicago PMI rose slightly to 52.2 in August from 52.1 in the previous month.

US crude oil inventories dropped by 3.326 million barrels in the week ended August 26th, compared to analysts’ expectations for a 1.483-million-barrel decline.

Data on farm prices for July will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Lorie Logan will speak at 6:00 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is set to speak at 6:30 p.m. ET.

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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 96,149,010 cases with around 1,069,740 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,429,250 cases and 527,870 deaths, while France reported over 34,509,960 COVID-19 cases with 154,030 deaths. In total, there were at least 607,452,440 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,492,730 deaths.