The US stock market experienced a decline on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq Composite leading the downward trend, falling over 1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded down by 0.42% to 41,075.81, while the S&P 500 also saw a dip, dropping 0.62% to 5,590.95.
Despite the overall decline, healthcare shares managed to gain 0.1% on Wednesday. In contrast, information technology shares were hit particularly hard, falling by 1.3% during the trading session.
Foot Locker, Inc. (FL) shares plunged approximately 11% on Wednesday after the release of the company’s quarterly results. The company reported a second-quarter adjusted EPS loss of 5 cents, which, while exceeding analyst expectations of a 7-cent loss, still contributed to the stock’s decline. However, the company’s quarterly sales of $1.896 billion surpassed the street view of $1.888 billion.
On a more positive note, several companies experienced significant stock price increases. AeroVironment, Inc. (AVAV) shares shot up 12% to $198.49 after multiple analysts upgraded the stock and raised their price targets. Virax Biolabs Group Limited (VRAX) shares also gained momentum, surging 24% to $6.05 following the company’s announcement of a distribution agreement to commercialize Mpox virus RT-PCR detection kits in Europe and the Middle East. BranchOut Food Inc. (BOF) shares experienced a notable jump, gaining 99% to $1.3399 after the company reported a year-over-year increase in its H1 revenue results.
However, not all companies saw positive movement. Agape ATP Corporation (ATPC) shares plummeted 31% to $0.0814. The decline was attributed to AGAPE ATP’s announcement of a 1-for-20 reverse stock split effective August 30. Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NBIX) shares were down 18% to $124.42 despite its Phase 2 study of NBI-1117568 in schizophrenia meeting its primary endpoint. Super Micro Computer, Inc. (SMCI) also faced a significant decline, falling 25% to $411.82 after the company announced that it will delay its Form 10-K filing.
In the commodity market, oil traded down 0.8% to $74.93, while gold experienced a slight decrease of 0.6% to $2,538.20. Silver saw a more substantial drop of 2.4% to $29.25 on Wednesday, and copper fell 1.9% to $4.2215.
European shares, on the other hand, closed mostly higher on Wednesday. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.33%, Germany’s DAX rose 0.54%, and France’s CAC 40 increased by 0.16%. Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.05%, while London’s FTSE 100 fell a marginal 0.02%.
Bank lending to households in the Eurozone climbed by 0.5% year-over-year to €6.883 trillion in July. Industrial sales in Italy increased by 0.1% from the prior month in June. The consumer confidence indicator in France climbed to 92.1 in August from 90 in the prior month.
Asian markets closed mixed on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.22%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.02%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.40%, and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.09%.
The index of leading economic indicators in Japan came in at 109 in June compared to 111.1 in the prior month. The index of coincident economic indicators in Japan fell to 113.2 in June from 117.1 in May.
Mortgage applications in the U.S. rose 0.5% from the earlier week in the period ending August 23.
