U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the S&P 500 gaining around 1% on Wednesday.
The Dow traded up 0.89% to 46,754.29 while the NASDAQ rose 1.56% to 21,927.64. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 1.05% to 6,596.91.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Industrials shares climbed by 2.1% on Wednesday.
In trading on Wednesday, energy stocks fell by 4%.
Top Headline
The ISM manufacturing PMI rose to 52.7 in March from 52.4 in the previous month and topping market estimates of 52.5.
Equities Trading UP
- Cyclerion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYCN) shares shot up 309% to $6.34 after the company announced it entered into a definitive merger agreement with Korsana Biosciences.
- Shares of RenX Enterprises Corp. (NASDAQ:RENX) got a boost, surging 50% to $2.6599 after the company announced financial results for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2025.
- Target Hospitality Corp (NASDAQ:TH) shares were also up, gaining 40% to $13.00 after the company announced a new multi-year contract with a hyperscaler to provide full‑turnkey support for the Data Center Hub in Texas. Also, the company raised its preliminary FY26 sales guidance.
Equities Trading DOWN
- RH (NYSE:RH) shares dropped 23% to $108.20 as the company reported worse-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results and issued FY26 sales guidance below estimates on Tuesday.
- Shares of Linkers Industries Limited (NASDAQ:LNKS) were down 45% to $0.013. Linkers Industries announced a 1-for-250 reverse stock split, effective April 6.
- Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) was down, falling 14% to $45.44. Nike reported better-than-expected financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2026. The company said it sees fourth-quarter sales of $10.656 billion to $10.878 billion, versus market estimates of $11.236 billion.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 1.5% to $99.85 while gold traded up 2.8% at $4,810.60.
Silver traded up 1.3% to $75.915 on Wednesday, while copper rose 0.1% to $5.62.
Euro zone
- European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 2.50%, while Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 3.11%. London's FTSE 100 surged 1.85%, Germany's DAX gained 2.73% and France's CAC 40 rose 2.10% during the session.
- Asia Pacific Markets
- Asian markets closed higher on Wednesday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 surging 5.24%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gaining 2.04%, China's Shanghai Composite gaining 1.46% and India's BSE Sensex gaining 1.65%.
- Economics
- U.S. business inventories fell by 0.1% month-over-month in January following a flat reading in December.
- The ISM manufacturing PMI rose to 52.7 in March from 52.4 in the previous month and topping market estimates of 52.5.
- The S&P Global manufacturing PMI came in at 52.3 in March down from the preliminary reading of 52.4 but higher than 51.6 in February.
- U.S. retail sales rose 0.6% month-over-month in February following a 0.1% decline in January and above market estimates of a 0.5% gain.
- U.S. private businesses added a net 62,000 jobs in March following a revised 66,000 in the previous month.
- U.S. crude inventories surged by 5.5 million barrels to 461.6 million barrels in the week ended March 27, versus market estimates of a 814,000-barrel gain.
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