Nasdaq Surges Over 100 Points; Yum! Brands Posts Downbeat Results

U.S. stocks traded higher toward the end of trading, with the Dow Jones index gaining more than 150 points on Wednesday.

The Dow traded up 0.47% to 38,701.01 while the NASDAQ rose 0.89% to 15,748.69. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.82% to 4,994.75.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer discretionary shares rose by 1.1% on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell by 0.2%.

Top Headline

Yum! Brands Inc YUM reported weaker-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Wednesday.

The company posted fourth-quarter fiscal 2023 sales growth of 1% year-on-year to $2.04 billion, missing the analyst consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Adjusted EPS was $1.26, below the consensus of $1.40.

Equities Trading UP

MicroCloud Hologram Inc. HOLO shares shot up 497% to $8.95. The company announced it planned to join the Communications Industry Association. HOLO intends to join the Communications Industry Association to foster information technology innovation.

Shares of Glatfelter Corporation GLT got a boost, surging 72% to $2.20 after the company and Berry Global announced they entered into definitive agreements for Berry to spin-off and merge the majority of its Health, Hygiene and Specialties segment to include its Global Nonwovens and Films business with Glatfelter.

Aviat Networks, Inc. AVNW shares were also up, gaining 25% to $37.47 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results and issued FY24 revenue guidance above estimates.

Equities Trading DOWN

Triumph Group, Inc. TGI shares dropped 18% to $13.46 after the company reported below-consensus third-quarter results and cut the FY24 outlook.

Shares of The Container Store Group, Inc. TCS were down 41% to $0.9998 following weak quarterly results.

Snap Inc. SNAP was down, falling 35% to $11.30 after the company reported mixed quarterly results.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.8% to $73.89 while gold traded mostly flat at $2,051.10.

Silver traded down 0.5% to $22.365 on Wednesday while copper fell 1.2% to $3.7365.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.23%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.68% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 1.15% The German DAX fell 0.65% French CAC 40 fell 0.36% while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.45%.

France’s current account deficit shrank to EUR 0.7 billion in December versus a revised EUR 2.9 billion in the prior month, while trade deficit increased to €6.83 billion in December from a €5.9 billion gap in the previous month.

The Halifax House Price Index rose by 2.5% year-over-year in January, while German industrial output declined by 1.6% month-over-month in December.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 falling 0.11%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index falling 0.34% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index gaining 1.44%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex, meanwhile, fell 0.06%.

China's vehicle sales climbed by 47.9% year-over-year to 2.44 million units in January. China's foreign exchange reserves fell to $3.219 trillion in January from $3.238 trillion in the prior month. Foreign exchange reserves in Hong Kong fell to $423.2 billion in January.

The index of leading economic indicators in Japan rose to 110.0 in December versus a revised reading of 108.1 in the previous month, while index of coincident economic indicators rose to 116.2 in December from a final reading of 114.6. Reserve assets in Japan declined to $1.292 trillion in January from $1.295 trillion a month ago.

Economics

U.S. mortgage applications increased by 3.7% on the week ending Feb. 2.

The trade deficit in the U.S. came in at $62.2 billion in December versus a revised $61.9 billion gap in November.

Crude oil inventories in the U.S. increased by 5.521 million barrels in the week ending Feb. 2, , the most since mid-November.

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