Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.04 percent to 24,716.86 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.30 percent to
7,373.78. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.16 percent to 2,715.80.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Wednesday morning, the materials shares rose 0.83 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Intrepid Potash,
Inc. (NYSE: IPI), up 8 percent, and Braskem S.A.
(NYSE: BAK) up 6 percent.
In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell 0.34 percent.
Top Headline
Macy's Inc (NYSE: M) reported stronger-than-expected
results for its first quarter and lifted guidance.
The company said it earned 48 cents per share in the first quarter on revenue of $5.54 billion versus expectations of 35 cents
per share and $5.39 billion. Management lifted its fiscal 2018 EPS guidance from $3.55-$3.75 to a new range of $3.75-$3.95.
Equities Trading UP
Blink Charging Co. (NASDAQ: BLNK) shares shot up
27 percent to $6.96. Blink Charging reported Q1 net income of $2.2 million, versus a year-ago net loss of $3.1 million.
Shares of Boot Barn Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: BOOT) got
a boost, shooting up 13 percent to $24.815 after the company reported upbeat results for its fourth quarter and issued strong
first-quarter earnings guidance.
Abaxis, Inc. (NASDAQ: ABAX) shares were also up,
gaining 15 percent to $82.75. Zoetis Inc. (NYSE: ZTS)
announced plans to acquire Abaxis for $83 per share in cash.
Equities Trading DOWN
Evolus, Inc. (NASDAQ: EOLS) shares dropped 28
percent to $10.555. The lifestyle aesthetics company said the FDA issued a Complete Response Letter which cited deficiencies which
were related to Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls processes which is not related to clinical or non-clinical matters.
Shares of Cemtrex, Inc. (NASDAQ: CETX) were down
16 percent to $2.19. Cemtrex posted Q2 earnings of $0.04 per share on sales of $20.6 million.
Social Reality, Inc. (NASDAQ: SRAX) was down,
falling around 10 percent to $4.01 after reporting a first-quarter sales miss.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.52 percent to $70.94 while gold traded down 0.25 percent to $1,287.10.
Silver traded down 0.33 percent Wednesday to $16.215, while copper fell 0.10 to $3.053.
.
Eurozone
European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.21 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.96
percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dipped 2.22 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX rose 0.40 percent, and the French CAC 40
climbed 0.16 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.12 percent.
Economics
Housing starts fell 3.7 percent to an annual rate of 1.29 million in April, versus a revised 1.34 million rate in March. Housing
permits declined 1.8 percent to an annual rate of 1.35 million.
U.S. industrial production rose 0.7 percent for April, versus economists’ expectations for a 0.2 percent growth.
The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S.is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m.
ET.
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard will speak at 6:30 p.m. ET.
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