U.S. stocks traded mixed midway through trading, with the S&P 500 edging lower on Wednesday. The Dow traded down 0.12% to 39,825.66 while the NASDAQ rose 0.07% to 16,843.82. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 0.04% to 5,319.28.
Information technology shares rose by 0.3% on Wednesday. In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell by 1.6%. Williams-Sonoma, Inc WSM reported better-than-expected first-quarter FY24 earnings. The company reported a first-quarter FY24 sales decline of 5% year-on-year to $1.66 billion, meeting the analyst consensus estimate. Comparable brand revenue for the quarter declined 4.9%. Adjusted EPS of $4.07 beat the analyst consensus estimate of $2.70.
Akoustis Technologies, Inc. AKTS shares shot up 141% to $0.3320 after the company reportedly floated the probability of bankruptcy after losing a lawsuit against Qorvo. Shares of Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. BNED got a boost, surging 80% to $0.9718 on continued volatility. Greenhaven last week said it continues to explore a possible transaction with the company. Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc. WOOF shares were also up, gaining 28% to $3.1350 following better-than-expected quarterly financial results.
Commodities: In commodity news, oil traded down 0.9% to $77.99 while gold traded down 1.3% at $2,395.10. Silver traded down 1.9% to $31.46 on Wednesday, while copper fell 4.7% to $4.8685.
European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.50%, Germany’s DAX fell 0.27% and France’s CAC 40 dipped 0.73%. Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.11%, while London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.82%. Passenger car registrations in the European Union jumped 13.7% year-over-year to 914 thousand units in April.
Asian markets closed mixed on Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei falling 0.85%, China’s Composite Index gaining 0.02%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index falling 0.13%, and India’s S&P BSE Sensex gaining 0.2%.
Japanese trade deficit rose to JPY 462,50 billion in April compared to a year-ago gap of JPY 429,79 billion. Japan’s core machinery orders climbed 2.9% month-over-month to 913 billion yen in March. U.S. mortgage applications rose by 1.9% from the prior week in the period ending May 17, compared to a 0.5% gain in the prior week. U.S. existing home sales fell 1.9% month-over-month to an annualized rate of 4.14 million units in April versus a revised 4.22 million in the prior month. U.S. crude oil inventories climbed by 1.825 million barrels in the week ending May 17, compared to a 2.508 million decline in the prior period, the EIA said. However, analysts were expecting a 2.55 million barrel decline.