Toward the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.27% to 35,249.25 while the NASDAQ rose 0.06% to 14,664.67. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.21% to 4,438.73.
The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 37,017,890 cases with around 623,320 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 32,285,850 cases and 432,510 deaths, while Brazil reported over 20,416,180 COVID-19 cases with 570,590 deaths. In total, there were at least 208,653,610 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 4,383,330 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Consumer discretionary shares rose 0.6% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Cango Inc. (NYSE:CANG), up 14% and Uxin Limited (NASDAQ:UXIN) up 12%.
In trading on Wednesday, real estate fell 0.8%.
Top Headline
Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) reported better-than-expected earnings for its second quarter on Wednesday.
Target reported quarterly adjusted earnings of $3.64 per share, surpassing analysts’ expectations of $3.49 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $25.16 billion, versus estimates of $25.08 billion. The company also reported a $15 billion buyback plan.
Equities Trading UP
Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) shares shot up 11% to $201.54 after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 EPS and sales results and issued FY21 sales guidance above estimates.
Shares of Alcon Inc. (NYSE:ALC) got a boost, shooting 12% to $80.16 after the company announced upbeat Q2 results and raised its guidance.
Virpax Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRPX) shares were also up, gaining 43% to $21.90. Virpax Pharmaceuticals shares jumped 265% on Tuesday after the company announced that it received a written pre-investigational new drug response from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for MMS019.
Check out these big movers of the day
Equities Trading DOWN
NexPoint Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:NREF) shares tumbled 11% to $20.71 as the company priced its 2 million share common stock offering at $21 per share.
Shares of Tuya Inc. (NYSE:TUYA) were down 18% to $12.28 after the company reported Q2 earnings results. Non-GAAP loss per ADS of $(0.04), while the company reported second-quarter FY21 revenue growth of 118% year-on-year to $84.7 million, beating the analyst consensus of $78 million. Tuya sees Q3 revenue of $83 million - $86 million below the analyst consensus of $109.9 million.
America's Car-Mart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRMT) was down, falling 15% to $138.47 despite reporting upbeat earnings and sales for the first quarter.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 1.5% to $65.60, while gold traded down 0.1% to $1,786.20.
Silver traded down 0.9% Wednesday to $23.455 while copper fell 2% to $4.1220.
Euro zone
European shares closed mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.14%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.18% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.28%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.16%, French CAC 40 fell 0.73% and Italy’s FTSE MIB gained 0.50%.
The consumer price inflation rate in the Eurozone was confirmed at 2.2% year-over-year in July, while construction output increased 2.8% year-over-year in June.
The consumer price inflation rate in the UK declined to 2.0% year-over-year in July from 2.5% in the prior month, while output prices rose 4.9% year-over-year in July.
Economics
US housing starts dropped 7% to an annual rate of 1.543 million units in July, while building permits increased 2.6% to an annual rate of 1.635 million.
US crude oil inventories dropped 3.234 million barrels in the August 13th week, versus a 0.447 million drop in the prior period, the Energy Information Administration said.
The Federal Open Market Committee released minutes of its latest meeting.
© 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
