Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.30% to 35,436.90 while the NASDAQ fell 0.57% to 15,150.48. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.23% to 4,623.57.
The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 51,136,440 cases with around 821,330 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 34,710,630 cases and 476,130 deaths, while Brazil reported over 22,195,770 COVID-19 cases with 617,120 deaths. In total, there were at least 271,874,930 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 5,340,460 deaths.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Health care shares climbed 0.8% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Gemini Therapeutics, Inc. GMTX, up 21% and Vir Biotechnology, Inc. VIR up 13%.
In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell 2.5%.
Top Headline
US retail trade increased 0.3% from a month ago in November after rising 1.8% in October. However, analysts were expecting a 0.8% growth.
Equities Trading UP
Biofrontera Inc. BFRI shares shot up 25% to $6.89 after Benchmark initiated coverage on the stock with a Buy rating and announced a $11 price target.
Shares of CMC Materials, Inc. CCMP got a boost, shooting 29% to $187.64 after the company announced it will be acquired by Entegris for $6.5 billion in cash and stock.
Nxt-ID, Inc. NXTD shares were also up, gaining 29% to $3.2199 after the company said it was awarded U.S. General Services Administration contract to distribute personal emergency response systems to Federal, State and Local government purchasers.
Check out these big movers of the day
Equities Trading DOWN
Aspen Group, Inc. ASPU shares tumbled 27% to $1.90 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q2 results and cut FY22 guidance.
Shares of REV Group, Inc. REVG were down 20% to $12.70 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q4 results and issued FY22 sales guidance below estimates.
Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. IDRA was down, falling 30% to $0.6091 after the company’s CEO said that clinical trials with tilsotolimod, its synthetic Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) agonist, have not yet translated into a new treatment alternative for patients.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.8% to $70.14, while gold traded down 0.4% to $1,765.80.
Silver traded down 1.8% Wednesday to $21.54 while copper fell 3.2% to $4.1230.
Euro zone
European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.15%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.24% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.08%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.66%, French CAC 40 climbed 0.36% and Italy’s FTSE MIB gained 0.34%.
Industrial production in the Eurozone increased 1.1% from a month ago in October. The UK unemployment rate fell to 4.2% during the three months to October, while the number of employed people rose by 149,000 on quarter to 32.506 million in the same period.
Economics
US retail trade increased 0.3% from a month ago in November after rising 1.8% in October. However, analysts were expecting a 0.8% growth.
The New York Empire State Manufacturing Index climbed to 31.9 in December from 30.9 in November.
Prices for US exports rose 1.0% month-over-month in November, while price index for US imports rose 0.7%.
US business inventories increased 1.2% from a month ago in October.
The housing market index rose to 84.00 in December from prior reading of 83.00.
US crude oil inventories dropped by 4.584 million barrels in the week ending December 10, the Energy Information Administration said.
The FOMC will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET.
The Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET.
The Treasury International Capital report for October will be released at 4:00 p.m. ET.
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