Crude Oil Surges 2%; Signet Jewelers Shares Spike Higher
U.S. stocks traded mostly flat midway through trading, ahead of interest-rate decision from the Federal Reserve.
The Dow traded up 0.03% to 39,123.89 while the NASDAQ fell 0.01% to 16,165.15. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.01% to 5,178.79.
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Leading and Lagging Sectors
Industrials shares rose by 0.5% on Wednesday.
In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell by 0.6%.
Top Headline
Crude oil inventories in the U.S. declined by 1.952 million barrels in the week ended March 15, versus market estimates of a 0.013 million gain.
Equities Trading UP
ETAO International Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ:ETAO) shares shot up 80% to $0.2581. The company announced a reverse stock split.
Shares of XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. (NASDAQ:XTLB) got a boost, surging 113% to $2.19 after the company announced plans to acquire The Social Proxy.
TruGolf Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRUG) shares were also up, gaining 53% to $1.76 after the company announced a newly expanded AI technology licensing agreement with mlSpatial.
Equities Trading DOWN
Lifecore Biomedical, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFCR) shares dropped 31% to $4.9481 after the company announced it concluded its strategic evaluation process, announced management succession and board changes.
Shares of Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AQST) were down 15% to $4.52. Aquestive Therapeutics priced its $75 million underwritten public offering of 16,666,667 common shares at $4.50 per share.
Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE:SIG) was down, falling 11% to $91.07 after the company reported worse-than-expected fourth-quarter sales and issued weak FY25 guidance.
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Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 2.2% to $81.67 while gold traded down 0.1% at $2,159.00.
Silver traded down 0.2% to $25.09 on Wednesday, while copper fell 0.7% to $4.0475.
Euro zone
European shares closed mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.05%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.02% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.28% The German DAX rose 0.02% French CAC 40 fell 0.59% while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.06%.
Industrial production in Italy declined by 1.2% month-over-month in January compared to a revised 1.2% surge in December. Producer prices in Germany fell by 4.1% year-over-year in February.
UK’s producer prices increased by 0.4% year-over-year in February, while inflation rate eased to 3.4% year-over-year in February.
Asia Pacific Markets
Asian markets closed higher on Wednesday, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rising 0.08%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index gaining 0.55% and India’s S&P BSE Sensex gaining 0.1%.
The People's Bank of China held benchmark lending rates at the recent fixing.
Economics
U.S. mortgage applications declined by 1.6% on the week ending March 15.
Crude oil inventories in the U.S. declined by 1.952 million barrels in the week ended March 15, versus market estimates of a 0.013 million gain.
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