U.S. stocks traded higher this morning, with the Dow Jones gaining around 175 points on Wednesday. The Federal Reserve will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET. The country’s central bank is widely expected to raise interest rates by 75 bps at the meeting. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.57% to 30,881.09 while the NASDAQ rose 0.32% to 11,461.48. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.60% to 3,878.89.
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Leading and Lagging Sectors
Utilities shares rose by 1.3% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Sunnova Energy International Inc. (NYSE:NOVA), up 2% and American States Water Company (NYSE:AWR) up 3%.
In trading on Wednesday, communication services shares fell by 0.2%.
Top Headline
Existing home sales in the US fell 0.4% to an annual rate of 4.8 million in August, recording the lowest reading since May 2020, and compared to a revised 5.7% decline in the previous month.
Equities Trading UP
- Stabilis Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLNG) shares shot up 100% to $10.34 after the company announced it has received authorization from the U.S. Department of Energy to export domestically produced liquefied natural gas to all free trade and non-free trade countries.
- Shares of FTAI Infrastructure Inc. (NASDAQ:FIP) got a boost, shooting 13% to $2.9493. Compass Point initiated coverage on FTAI Infrastructure with a Buy rating and announced a price target of $7.
- DarioHealth Corp. (NASDAQ:DRIO) shares were also up, gaining 9% to $4.2150. DarioHealth, on Tuesday, announced two new employer contracts.
Equities Trading DOWN
- SOBR Safe, Inc. (NASDAQ:SOBR) shares tumbled 32% to $2.0694. SOBR Safe shares surged 233% on Tuesday following a report suggesting The National Transportation Safety Board is recommending that NHTSA require passive alcohol-detection systems.
- Shares of ShiftPixy, Inc. (NASDAQ:PIXY) were down 34% to $14.15 after the company announced pricing of a $5 million private placement.
- Mobile Global Esports Inc. (NASDAQ:MGAM) was down, falling 24% to $2.33 after the company announced a $5 million private placement priced at-the-market.
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Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.3% to $84.20, while gold traded up 0.6% at $1,680.30.
Silver traded up 1.4% to $19.455 on Wednesday while copper fell 0.9% to $3.4705.
Euro zone
European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.4%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.3% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.3%. The German DAX gained 0.1%, French CAC 40 rose 0.2% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.6%.
Public sector net borrowing, excluding public sector banks, in the UK came in at £11.8 billion for August.
Economics
- Existing home sales in the US fell 0.4% to an annual rate of 4.8 million in August, recording the lowest reading since May 2020, and compared to a revised 5.7% decline in the previous month.
- The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.
- The Federal Reserve will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET. The country’s central bank is widely expected to raise interest rates by 75 bps at the meeting.
- Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will hold a press conference at 2:30 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 97,594,680 cases with around 1,079,200 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,547,590 cases and 528,400 deaths, while France reported over 34,973,410 COVID-19 cases with 154,790 deaths. In total, there were at least 618,209,000 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,533,620 deaths.
