Dow Turns Lower; Federal Reserve Keeps Rates Unchanged

U.S. stocks traded lower toward the end of trading, with the Nasdaq Composite falling around 1.5% on Wednesday.

The Dow traded down 0.21% to 38,384.83 while the NASDAQ fell 1.53% to 15,272.34. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 1.02% to 4,874.63.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Real estate shares rose by 0.7% on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, communication services shares fell by 3.3%.

Top Headline

The Federal Reserve maintained interest rates between 5.25% and 5.5% Wednesday during its first meeting of 2024, aligning with market predictions.

Equities Trading UP

Ashland Inc. ASH shares shot up 17% to $94.34 after the company reported mixed first-quarter financial results and issued guidance.

Shares of Minim, Inc. MINM got a boost, surging 65% to $4.18. David E. Lazar disclosed a 51% active stake in Minim Inc.

Powell Industries, Inc. POWL shares were also up, gaining 48% to $120.92 after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results and raised its quarterly dividend.

Equities Trading DOWN

Nuvve Holding Corp. NVVE shares dropped 59% to $1.37. Nuvve announced pricing of $9.6 million underwritten public offering of 4.8 million shares of common stock at $2.00 per share.

Shares of New York Community Bancorp, Inc. NYCB were down 36% to $6.59 after the company reported worse-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results and reduced its quarterly dividend.

Genprex, Inc. GNPX was down, falling 29% to $0.1902. Genprex announced a 1-for-40 reverse stock split effective Feb. 2, 2024.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 2.6% to $75.78 while gold traded up 0.8% at $2,068.10.

Silver traded down 0.1% to $23.20 on Wednesday while copper fell 0.3% to $3.90.

Euro zone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.01%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.47% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.38% The German DAX fell 0.40% French CAC 40 fell 0.27% while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.40%.

Spain reported a current account surplus of EUR 2,765 million in November versus a year-ago surplus of EUR 4,122 million, while retail trade rose by 3.1% year-over-year in December. German jobless rate came in unchanged for a third straight period at 5.8% in January, while German import prices fell 8.5% year-over-year in December.

Producer prices in the French domestic market eased to 0.1% month-over-month in December compared to revised 2.3% increase a month ago, while consumer price inflation slowed to 3.1% year-over-year in January. The Nationwide House Price Index in the UK declined 0.2% year-over-year in January.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 0.61%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index falling 1.39% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index dipping 1.48%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex, meanwhile, rose 0.86%.

Indian fiscal deficit narrowed to INR 9.82 trillion in April-December compared to INR 9.93 trillion in the year-ago period. Hong Kong’s economy grew by 4.3% year-over-year in the fourth quarter versus 4.1% growth in the earlier period.

Japan's housing starts fell by 4.0% year-over-year in December, while consumer confidence index in Japan rose to 38 in January from 37.2 in the prior month. The official NBS non-manufacturing PMI for China rose to 50.7 in January from 50.4 in the previous month, while manufacturing PMI rose to 49.2 in January from December's 6-month low level of 49.0.

Economics

Private businesses in the U.S. added 107,000 workers in January, compared to a revised 158,000 gain in December and versus market estimates of 145,000.

Compensation costs for civilian workers in the U.S. rose by 0.9% during the final quarter of 2023, compared to a 1.1% increase in the prior three-month period.

U.S. crude inventories increased 1.234 million barrels last week, compared to market expectations for a decline of 0.217 million barrels.

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