U.S. stocks traded mixed midway through trading, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite edging higher on Wednesday.

The Dow traded down 0.39% to 44,382.16 while the NASDAQ rose 0.04% to 20,049.09. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.03% to 6,131.45.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Health care shares jumped by 0.7% on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, materials shares fell by 1.4%.

Top Headline

Analog Devices, Inc (NASDAQ:ADI) reported better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results on Wednesday.

The company's revenue declined 4% year-on-year to $2.42 billion, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. Adjusted EPS of $1.63 beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.54.

Equities Trading UP
                       

Equities Trading DOWN

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.6% to $72.31 while gold traded down 0.4% at $2,937.10.

Silver traded down 0.9% to $33.065 on Wednesday, while copper fell 0.7% to $4.5580.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.91%, Germany's DAX 40 fell 1.80% and France's CAC 40 declined 1.17%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 1.63%, while London's FTSE 100 fell 0.62%.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Tuesday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 0.27%, China's Shanghai Composite Index falling 0.93%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index falling 0.14% and India's BSE Sensex falling 0.04%.

Economics

• U.S. housing starts fell 9.8% month-over-month to an annualized rate of 1.366 million in January compared to December’s reading of 1.515 million.
• Building permits rose by 0.1% to an annualized rate of 1.483 million in January.

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