Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.10 percent to 25,434.38 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.21 percent to 7,345.43.
The S&P also rose, gaining 0.12 percent to 2,747.56.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
On Wednesday, the technology shares gained 0.42 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included TiVo Corp (NASDAQ:
TIVO), up 15 percent, and RealPage Inc (NASDAQ:
RP), up 7 percent.
In trading on Wednesday, basic materials shares tumbled 0.61 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Synalloy
Corporation (NASDAQ: SYNL), down 6 percent, and
Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) down 7 percent.
Top Headline
Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW) reported
weaker-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.
The company said it earned $0.74 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $15.49 billion versus expectations of $0.87 per
share on revenue of $15.33 billion.
Lowe's expects FY18 sales to rise 4 percent and earnings of $5.40 to $5.50 per share.
Equities Trading UP
PHH Corporation (NYSE: PHH) shares shot up 26 percent
to $10.72 after the company agreed to be purchased by Ocwen Financial for $11 per share in cash.
Shares of Student Transportation Inc (NASDAQ: STB)
got a boost, shooting up 25 percent to $7.49 after the company agreed to be acquired by a group of investors led by CDPQ.
Endocyte, Inc. (NASDAQ: ECYT) shares were also up,
gaining 28 percent to $5.38. Endocyte priced its 17.86 million share offering at $4.20 per share. Endocyte appointed Patrick
Machado, J.D. to its Board of Directors.
Equities Trading DOWN
Frontier Communications Corp (NASDAQ: FTR) shares
dropped 26 percent to $6.82 following its fourth quarter report. The company's board said it will be suspending its quarterly
dividend, which is expected to free up $250 million in cash to accelerate its debt repayment.
Shares of Huron Consulting Group (NASDAQ: HURN)
were down 17 percent to $34.25 after the company posted weaker-than-expected quarterly results.
Community Health Systems (NYSE: CYH) was down, falling
around 17 percent to $5.15. Community Health posted a narrower-than-expected Q4 loss, while sales missed estimates. The company
also issued a weak 2018 forecast.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.84 percent to $62.48 while gold traded up 0.04 percent to $1,319.10.
Silver traded up 0.19 percent Wednesday to $16.465, while copper fell 1.4 percent to $3.142.
Eurozone
European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.06 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.18 percent,
while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.16 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.18 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.18
percent while U.K. shares rose 0.01 percent.
Economics
U.S. economy expanded at an annual pace of 2.5 percent in the fourth quarter, versus a prior reading of 2.6 percent growth.
Economists were expecting a 2.5 percent growth.
The Chicago PMI dropped to a reading of 61.9 in February, versus a reading of 65.7 in January.
Pending-home sales declined 4.7 percent to 104.6 for January.
Domestic crude supplies gained 3.02 million barrels for the week ended February 23, the U.S. Energy Information Administration
reported. Analysts projected a rise of 2.4 million barrels. Gasoline stockpiles climbed 2.48 million barrels, while distillate
stockpiles declined 960,000 barrels for the week.
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