US Stocks Edge Higher; AMD Shares Tank Despite Upbeat Results

U.S. stocks traded up this morning, ahead of the Federal Reserve’s decision on an interest rate hike.

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.05% to 33,700.93 while the NASDAQ rose 0.17% to 12,100.98. The S&P 500 also gained 0.17% to 4126.77.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Industrials shares jumped by 0.48% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Powell Industries, Inc. POWL up 22.63% and Commercial Vehicle Group, Inc. CVGI up 16.85%.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell 1.25%.

Top Headline

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. AMD reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter.

Advanced Micro Devices reported first-quarter earnings of 60 cents per share, ahead of Wall Street expectations of 56 cents per share but below the year-ago figure of $1.13 per share. However, shipments contracted by 30% in the first quarter and the company’s guidance missed expectations.

Equities Trading UP

• ImmunoGen, Inc. IMGN shares shot up 122.68% to $11.58 after the company announced that ELAHERE demonstrated overall survival benefit in the Phase 33 MIRASOL trial in patients FRα--positive platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.
• Shares of Mersana Therapeutics, Inc. MRSN got a boost, shooting up 41.78% to $6.21. The company announced that it will present at the Bank of America Securities 2023 Healthcare Conference on May 10.
• Ruth's Hospitality Group, Inc. RUTH shares were also up, gaining 33.37%% to $21.38 after Darden Restaurants, Inc. DRI announced the acquisition of Ruth’s Hospitality’s steakhouse chain for $715 million.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Estee Lauder Companies, Inc. EL shares tumbled 21.3% to $192.99 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q3 adjusted EPS with FY23 EPS guidance below estimates due to expectations of FY23 sales dropping 10-12%.
• Shares of NerdWallet, Inc. NRDS were down 19.43% to $10.0715 after the company reported higher-than-expected EPS and revenue for the first quarter while guiding to Q2 revenue below estimates.
• Sprout Social, Inc. SPT was down, falling 17.4% to $39.915 after the company reported better than expected results for the first quarter but missed expectations with its second quarter guidance.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 3.78% to $68.95, while gold traded up 0.10% to $2025.30.

Silver dropped 0.02% Wednesday to $25.615 while copper fell 0.47% to $3.8445.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly up today. The Eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.33%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.28%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.22%. The German DAX gained 0.62, French CAC 40 rose 0.226% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.91%.

The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in the Euro Area fell to 6.5% in March 2023, marking the lowest rate on record but beating the market expectations of 6.6%.

Economics

Stocks of crude oil in the US declined by 3.939 million barrels in the week ended April 28, after a decline of 6.083 million barrels in the previous week. Private businesses in the US created 296,000 jobs in April, above the 142,000 reported for March and ahead of the estimates of 148,000.