Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.87 percent to 24,572.35 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.97 percent to
7,337.15. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.02 percent to 2,699.28.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Wednesday afternoon, the energy shares rose 2.37 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included EP Energy
Corporation (NYSE: EPE), up 24 percent, and Penn
Virginia Corporation (NASDAQ: PVAC) up 24 percent.
In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares fell 0.91 percent.
Top Headline
Walmart Inc (NYSE: WMT) disclosed that it reached an
agreement to acquire 77 percent of India-based Flipkart for $16 billion. The Indian company recorded gross merchandise value of
$7.6 billion and net sales of $4.6 billion in its recent fiscal year ended March 31.
The e-commerce giant cautioned the deal would result in a negative impact to its EPS of 25 to 30 cents in fiscal 2019 and a
headwind of 60 cents per share in fiscal 2020.
Equities Trading UP
Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: LTRPA) shares shot up 30 percent to $12.05 following TripAdvisor Q1 earnings
beat.
Shares of ZAGG Inc (NASDAQ: ZAGG) got a boost,
shooting up 26 percent to $14.48 after the company posted better-than-expected Q1 earnings.
OPKO Health, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPK) shares were also
up, gaining 29 percent to $4.1652 following Q1 beat.
Equities Trading DOWN
Extreme Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXTR) shares
dropped 24 percent to $8.95 after the company reported downbeat earnings for its third quarter and issued weak Q4 guidance.
Shares of Caesarstone Ltd. (NASDAQ: CSTE) were
down 31 percent to $12.80 after the company reported downbeat Q1 results. The company lowered its FY18 sales forecast and suspended
Q2 dividend.
Cutera, Inc. (NASDAQ: CUTR) was down, falling
around 27 percent to $40.60 following Q1 miss.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 3.2 percent to $71.27 while gold traded down 0.02 percent to $1,313.40.
Silver traded up 0.50 percent Wednesday to $16.555, while copper rose 0.13 to $3.063.
Eurozone
European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.63 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.52 percent,
while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.51 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX rose 0.24 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 0.23
percent while U.K. shares rose 1.28 percent.
Economics
The Producer Price Index rose 0.1 percent for April, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.2 percent gain.
U.S. wholesale trade inventories rose 0.3 percent for March, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.6 percent rise.
Crude supplies slipped 2.2 million barrels for the week ended May 4, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported.
However, analysts expected a drop of 400,000 barrels. Gasoline stockpiles slipped 2.2 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles
fell 3.8 million barrels for the week.
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