U.S. stocks traded mixed toward the end of trading, with the S&P 500 turning lower on Wednesday.
The Dow traded up 0.07% to 37,586.02 while the NASDAQ rose 0.17% to 15,029.36. The S&P 500, however, fell 0.04% to 4,766.46.
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Leading and Lagging Sectors
Communication services shares jumped by 1.4% on Wednesday.
In trading on Wednesday, consumer staples shares fell by 1%.
Top Headline
General Mills Inc (NYSE:GIS) reported downbeat sales for its second quarter and lowered its annual sales outlook.
The company reported a second-quarter sales decline of 2% year-on-year to $5.14 billion, missing the analyst consensus estimate of $5.35 billion. Adjusted EPS of $1.25 beat the consensus estimate of $1.16.
General Mills cut its FY24 organic sales outlook from 3%-4% growth to range down 1%-flat. The company revised FY24 adjusted EPS growth guidance from 4%-6% to 4%-5% in constant currency.
Equities Trading UP
Steelcase Inc. (NYSE:SCS) shares shot up 12% to $14.19. Steelcase posted upbeat earnings for its third quarter, while sales missed estimates. The company said it sees fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 19 cents to 23 cents per share on revenue of $765 million to $790 million.
Shares of ParaZero Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:PRZO) got a boost, surging 82% to $1.2750 after the company announced the successful completion of its safety solution development for a Fortune 500 leading global automotive manufacturer’s proprietary drone program.
Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCO) shares were also up, gaining 13% to $1.9050. Clear Channel Outdoor named David Sailer as Executive Vice President, CFO, effective as of March 1, 2024 and reaffirmed guidance for FY23.
Equities Trading DOWN
bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) shares dropped 45% to $1.3450 after the company announced pricing of a $125 million public offering of common stock.
Shares of KULR Technology Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:KULR) were down 23% to $0.2285 after the company reported pricing of $900,000 public offering of common stock.
AgriFORCE Growing Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:AGRI) was down, falling 30% to $0.4050. Agriforce Growing Systems filed for offering of up to 8.72 million shares of common stock by the selling stockholders.
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Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.7% to $74.43 while gold traded down 0.3% at $2,045.90.
Silver traded up 1.2% to $24.61 on Wednesday while copper rose 0.2% to $3.9055.
Euro zone
European shares closed mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.19%, London’s FTSE 100 gained 1.02% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.06% The German DAX fell 0.07% French CAC 40 rose 0.12%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.01%.
Construction output in the Eurozone fell by 0.7% year-over-year in October following a revised 0.7% increase in the prior month. The Eurozone posted a current account surplus of EUR 30.1 billion in October versus a year-ago deficit of EUR 14.6 billion. Passenger car registrations in the European Union surged 6.7% year-over-year to 855.6 thousand units during November.
Producer prices in Germany fell by 7.9% year-over-year in November, while the GfK Consumer Climate Indicator for Germany increased to -25.1 heading into January versus a revised reading of -27.6 in December. UK producer prices decline 0.2% year-over-year in November, while annual inflation rate in the UK eased to 3.9% in November from 4.6% in October.
Asia Pacific Markets
Asian markets closed mixed on Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 1.37%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gaining 0.66% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index falling 1.03%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex, meanwhile, fell 1.3%.
The People’s Bank of China held its lending rates at the December fixing. Japanese trade deficit narrowed to JPY 776.94 billion in November from JPY 2,057,64 billion in the year-ago period.
Economics
The US current account deficit narrowed by 7.6% to $200.3 billion in the third quarter, versus the revised figure of $216.8 billion in the prior quarter and compared to markets estimates of a $196 billion gap.
Sales of previously owned homes in the U.S. rose by 0.8% month-over-month to an annualized rate of 3.82 million units in November.
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