Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.10% to 31,422.79 while the NASDAQ fell 2.51% to 13,023.43. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.82% to 3,838.38.
The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 28,664,600 cases with around 514,660 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 11,124,520 confirmed cases and 157,240 deaths, while Brazil reported over 10,587,000 COVID-19 cases with 255,720 deaths. In total, there were at least 114,499,550 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 2,540,340 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Energy shares rose 2.6% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included The Callon Petroleum Company (NYSE:CPE), up 17%, and Centennial Resource Development, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDEV), up 13%.
In trading on Wednesday, information technology shares fell 2.1%.
Top Headline
Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR) reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales missed views.
Dollar Tree posted quarterly adjusted earnings of $2.13 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $2.11 per share. The company reported sales of $6.77 billion, versus expectations of $6.79 billion.
Dollar Tree also added $2 billion to its buyback program.
Equities Trading UP
Cohen & Company Inc. (NASDAQ:COHN) shares shot up 110% to $36.90 after the company reported a strong rise in Q4 earnings and sales.
Veritiv Corporation (NYSE:VRTV) shares were also up, gaining 58% to $39.80 after the company reported an increase in Q4 earnings and announced a $50 million buyback plan.
Check out these big movers of the day
Equities Trading DOWN
Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR) shares tumbled 31% to $40.01. Vir Biotechnology and GlaxoSmithKline have provided an update on the VIR-7831 (GSK4182136) arm of NIH-sponsored ACTIV Program Phase 3 trial in hospitalized adults with COVID-19.
Shares of Rocket Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKT) were down 31% to $28.83 after RBC Capital downgraded the stock from Outperform to Sector Perform and announced a price target of $30 per share.
MICT, Inc. (NASDAQ:MICT) was down, falling 21% to $2.3250 after the company priced its 19.29 million share common stock and warrants offering.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 3.1% to $61.61, while gold traded down 0.9% to $1,717.90
Silver traded down 1.8% Wednesday to $26.405 while copper fell 1.6% to $4.1535.
Euro zone
European shares closed mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.05%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.32% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.29%. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 rose 0.35%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.93% and Italy’s FTSE MIB fell 0.16%.
Producer prices in the Eurozone rose 1.4% in January following a revised 0.9% increase in December, while composite PMI increased to 48.8 in February from 47.8 in the earlier month. UK composite PMI increase to 49.6 in February from 41.2 in the earlier month, while German composite PMI rose to 51.1 in February from 50.8 in January. The French government budget deficit increased to EUR 21.9 billion in January from EUR 20 billion in the year-ago month.
Economics
US private businesses hired 117,000 workers in February following a revised 195,000 rise in the previous month.
The IHS Markit composite PMI increased to 59.5 in February from a preliminary estimate of 58.8.
The ISM services PMI fell to 55.3 in February from 58.7 in January.
US crude oil supplies climbed 21.563 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said.
The Federal Open Market Committee released its latest Beige Book report.
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan will speak at 6:05 p.m. ET.
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