U.S. stocks traded mixed midway through trading, with the S&P 500 gaining around 0.2% on Wednesday.
The Dow traded up 0.32% to 52,542.91 while the NASDAQ fell 0.05% to 26,464.59. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.20% to 7,738.16.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Health care shares jumped by 1% on Wednesday.
In trading on Wednesday, real estate stocks fell by 0.8%.
Top Headline
Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results and raised its FY27 guidance.
The restaurant operator reported adjusted earnings of $2.77 per share, beating analysts’ expectations of $2.45. Earnings rose from $1.93 per share a year earlier. Quarterly revenue increased 9.4% year over year to $1.476 billion, topping the consensus estimate of $1.457 billion.
Equities Trading UP
- Ultralife Corp (NASDAQ:ULBI) shares shot up 146% to $15.62 after the company agreed to be acquired by stored energy systems and technology provider EnerSys (NYSE:ENS) in an all-cash deal valued at about $320 million.
- Shares of AxoGen, Inc (NASDAQ:AXGN) got a boost, surging 27% to $47.60 after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter financial results and issued FY26 revenue guidance above estimates.
- Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) shares were also up, gaining 12% to $234.01 after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter financial results and raised its FY26 guidance above estimates.
Equities Trading DOWN
- Oatly Group AB – ADR (NASDAQ:OTLY) shares dipped 29% to $8.34 after the company reported mixed third-quarter financial results and affirmed its FY26 sales guidance below estimates.
- Shares of Materialise NV – ADR (NASDAQ:MTLS) were down 21% to $6.82 following third-quarter results.
- Geron Corp (NASDAQ:GERN) was down, falling 20% to $0.92 after the company announced it will discontinue its Phase 3 IMpactMF clinical trial of imetelstat in JAK inhibitor relapsed/refractory myelofibrosis.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 3.4% to $103.39 while gold traded down 0.5% at $4,054.00.
Silver traded down 1.8% to $53.550 on Wednesday, while copper rose 0.1% to $6.6550.
Euro zone
European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.1%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index dipped 1.3%, London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.1%, Germany’s DAX gained 0.3%, while France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.1%.
Asia Pacific Markets
Asian markets closed mostly higher on Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 surging 1.08%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rising 0.23%, China’s SSE Composite Index climbing 0.91% and India’s BSE Sensex slipping 0.48%.
Economics
- U.S. mortgage applications surged by 3.4% in the week ending Oct. 23, recording the first gain since August.
- U.S. crude oil inventories dipped by 1.892 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 23, compared to a 3.061 million-barrel decline in the previous week.
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