US Stocks Mixed; Dow Drops 200 Points

U.S. stocks traded mixed this morning, with the Dow Jones dropping around 200 points on Wednesday.

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.59% to 33,653.94 while the NASDAQ rose 0.20% to 11,005.66. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 0.29% to 3,946.32.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares rose by 0.2% on Wednesday. Leading the sector was strength from Satixfy Communications Ltd. SATX and Agora, Inc. API.

In trading on Wednesday, financial shares fell by 1.6%.

Top Headline

The US economy expanded by an annualized rate of 2.9% on quarter in the third quarter, compared to an initial estimate of 2.6%, and above market estimates of 2.7%.

Equities Trading UP

• XPeng Inc. XPEV shares shot up 38% to $10.14 after the company reported Q3 earnings and delivery results and issued Q4 sales and delivery guidance.
• Shares of Satixfy Communications Ltd. SATX got a boost, shooting 36% to $20.88.
• Horizon Therapeutics Public Limited Company HZNP shares were also up, gaining 27% to $100.16 after the company confirmed preliminary discussions regarding a potential offer. The company is in discussions with Amgen, Janssen and Sanofi.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Starwood Waypoint Homes of Ben SFR shares tumbled 29% to $7.63.
• Shares of Solid Power, Inc. SLDP were down 27% to $3.1150 after the company reported CEO transition. DA Davidson downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral and lowered its price target from $13 to $5.
• OncoSec Medical Incorporated ONCS was down, falling 21% to $3.05. OncoSec reported pricing of $3.5 million public offering.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2.9% to $80.43 while gold traded up 0.1% at $1,765.90.

Silver traded up 1.6% to $21.785 on Wednesday while copper rose 2.1% to $3.7170.

Stocks of crude oil in the US fell by 7.85 million barrels during the week ended November.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.6%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.9% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.3%. The German DAX gained 0.2%, French CAC 40 rose 0.7% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.2%.

Annual inflation rate in the Eurozone declined to 10% in November versus a record high level of 10.6% in the previous month. Spain reported a current account surplus of €0.36 billion in September compared to a €1.5 billion surplus in the year-ago period. Domestic producer prices in France fell by 0.1% month-over-month in October. Germany’s unemployment rate rose to 5.6% in November from 5.5% in the prior month.

Consumer prices in Italy climbed 11.8% year-over-year in November, while gross domestic product grew by 0.5% quarter-on-quarter during the three months to September. The French economy grew 0.2% on quarter in the third quarter, while annual inflation rate came in unchanged at 6.2% in November.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly mixed on Wednesday, with the Japan’s Nikkei dropping 0.21% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumping 2.16%. China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.05%.

The official NBS Manufacturing PMI for China dropped to 48.0 in November from 49.2, while non-manufacturing PMI fell to 46.7 from 48.7. Private sector credit in Australia rose 0.6% month-over-month in October, while building permits fell by 6.0% month-over-month to 15,382 units during the month. The monthly Consumer Price Index indicator in Australia climbed 6.9% in the year to October. Industrial production in Japan dropped 2.6% month-over-month for October.

Economics

• Private businesses in the US added 127,000 jobs in November, down from market estimates of 200,000.
• The US economy expanded by an annualized rate of 2.9% on quarter in the third quarter, compared to an initial estimate of 2.6%, and above market estimates of 2.7%.
• The trade gap on goods in the US increased to $99 billion in October versus a revised $91.9 billion gap a month ago.
• Wholesale inventories in the US climbed by 0.8 % month-over-month to $925.8 billion in October.
• The Chicago PMI fell to 37.2 points in November from 45.20 points a month ago.
• Pending home sales in the US dropped by 4.6% month-over-month in October.
• The number of job openings in the US fell by 353,000 to 10.3 million in October.

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COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 100,532,710 cases with around 1,105,050 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,673,370 cases and 530,620 deaths, while France reported over 37,778,410 COVID-19 cases with 158,850 deaths. In total, there were at least 647,587,610 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,639,170 deaths.