US Stocks Mostly Lower As Dow Drops 30 Points

U.S. stocks traded mostly lower this morning, with the Dow Jones dropping around 30 points on Wednesday.

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.10% to 30,492.51 while the NASDAQ fell 0.79% to 10,686.99. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 0.58% to 3,698.32.

Also check this: Dow Rises Over 300 Points As Market Volatility Decreases

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed 1.1% on Wednesday. Leading the sector was strength from Baker Hughes Company BKR and Alpine Summit Energy Partners, Inc. ALPS.

In trading on Wednesday, real estate shares dipped 1.2%.

Top Headline

Housing starts in the US dipped 8.1% to an annualized rate of 1.439 million in September compared to a revised 1.566 million in the prior month. Building permits rose 1.4% month-over-month to an annualized 1.564 million during the month.

Equities Trading UP

• LMF Acquisition Opportunities, Inc. LMAO shares shot up 30% to $11.14 after the company announced stockholders approved the previously-announced business combination with SeaStar Medical.
• Shares of HV Bancorp, Inc. HVBC got a boost, shooting 29% to $25.81. Citizens Financial Services and HV Bancorp signed definitive merger agreement for $67.4 million.
• SOBR Safe, Inc. SOBR shares were also up, gaining 21% to $3.2200 after the company announced it secured a large industrial customer and validation of its sales strategy.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Olaplex Holdings, Inc. OLPX shares tumbled 50% to $4.9450 after the company issued Q3 and FY22 sales guidance below analyst estimates.
• Shares of Generac Holdings Inc. GNRC were down 20% to $118.87 after the company reported preliminary Q3 EPS results are lower year over year. The company also lowered its FY22 net sales growth guidance and net income margin.
• EQRx, Inc. EQRX was down, falling 16% to $4.64.

Also check out: Carnival, Amazon, Iamgold And Other Big Gainers From Tuesday

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.2% to $83.77, while gold traded down 1% at $1,639.50.

Silver traded down 1.4% to $18.345 on Wednesday while copper fell 0.8% to $3.3360.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.2%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.1% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.2%. The German DAX decliend 0.1%, French CAC 40 rose 0.1% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slipped 0.1%.

The Eurozone annual inflation rate fell to 9.9% in September versus a preliminary reading of 10.0%, while construction output in the region climbed 2.3% year-over-year in August.

The annual inflation rate in the UK accelerated to 10.1% in September from 9.9% in the previous month, while producer inflation climbed 15.9% year-over-year in September slowing from a revised 16.4% increase a month ago.

Economics

Housing starts in the US dipped 8.1% to an annualized rate of 1.439 million in September compared to a revised 1.566 million in the prior month. Building permits rose 1.4% month-over-month to an annualized 1.564 million during the month.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari is set to speak at 1:00 p.m. ET.

The Federal Open Market Committee will release its Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Chicago Fed President Charles Evans will speak at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Check out this: Why Fear Level Among US Investors Is Decreasing

COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 98,907,740 cases with around 1,091,080 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,634,370 cases and 528,920 deaths, while France reported over 36,355,690 COVID-19 cases with 156,080 deaths. In total, there were at least 630,977,790 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,574,490 deaths.