Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.51 percent to 15,007.82 while the NASDAQ surged 0.45 percent to 3,448.89. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.16 percent to 1,616.64.
Top Headline
International Speedway ISCA reported a 64% rise in its second-quarter net income.
International Speedway’s quarterly earnings surged to $22.4 million, or $0.48 per share, from $13.7 million, or $0.30 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, it earned $0.51 per share.
Its revenue fell 1% to $178.4 million from $179.6 million.
Equities Trading UP
Leap Wireless International LEAP shot up 5.23 percent to $7.04 after Macquarie upgraded the stock from “underperform” to “neutral.”
Shares of EXCO Resources XCO got a boost, shooting up 7.66 percent to $8.01 after the company announced its plans to acquire oil and gas assets from Chesapeake Energy for around $1 billion.
Zynga ZNGA was also up, gaining 5.20 percent to $3.44 on positive Jim Cramer/Mad Money comments.
Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Overstock.com OSTK were down 10.15 percent to $26.82 after Bank of America downgraded the stock from “buy” to “underperform.”
Mead Johnson Nutrition Company MJN was down, falling 10.48 percent to $67.05 after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock from “buy” to “neutral.”
Credit Suisse Group AG CS shares tumbled 1.38 percent to $26.50 after S&P downgraded the bank to A- from A.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 1.61 percent to $101.20, while gold traded up 0.79 percent to $1,253.20.
Silver traded up 2.08 percent Wednesday to $19.71, while copper rose 1 percent to $3.17.
Eurozone
European shares were lower on weaker than expected services PMIs around the globe. The Eurozone Non-Manufacturing PMI rose to 48.3 from 47.2 in May but missed expectations of a reading of 48.6, which was the flash reading earlier this month. Strength in Spain once again was offset by weakness in Germany and Italy.
The Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.56 percent and the Italian FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.54 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX tumbled 1.47 percent and the French CAC 40 fell 1.40 percent while U.K. shares declined 1.50 percent.
Economics
The MBA purchase applications index declined 12% last week versus the previous week.
The US economy added 188,000 private-sector jobs in June, versus a gain of 135,000 jobs in May, Automatic Data Processing reported. However, economists were expecting an addition of 160,000 private jobs.
US jobless claims dropped 5,000 to 343,000 in the week ended June 29. However, economists were estimating claims to total 346,000.
US trade deficit widened 12.1% to $45.0 billion in May. However, economists were expecting a deficit of $40.3 billion.
The Bloomberg Consumer Confidence Index rose to -27.50 for the week ended Jun 30, versus a prior reading of -28.30.
The ISM non-manufacturing index fell to 52.20 in June, versus a prior reading of 53.70. However, economists were expecting a reading of 54.00.
US crude-oil supplies fell by 10.3 million barrels for the week ended June 28, the Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were expecting a 3-million-barrel drop.
Natural-gas inventories climbed by 72 billion cubic feet for the week ended June 28, the US Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were expecting a rise of 70 billion cubic feet to 74 billion cubic feet.
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