US Stocks Turn Higher After Fed Raises Key Overnight Interest Rate; Nasdaq Up 1.5%

U.S. stocks turned higher toward the end of trading, following the release of interest rate decision.

The Dow traded up 0.05% to 34,104.56 while the NASDAQ rose 1.58% to 11,767.44. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 0.83% to 4,110.42.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

• Information technology shares slipped by just 0.1% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Rapid7, Inc. RPD, up 23%, and Innodata Inc. INOD, up 23%.
• In trading on Wednesday, energy shares dipped by 2.6%.

Top Headline

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised its benchmark rate by 0.25%, marking the central bank's second consecutive policy downshift.

Equities Trading UP

• Motorsport Games Inc. MSGM shares shot up 45% to $31.00. Motorsport Games agreed to raise $3.9 million at par via private placement of shares for developing multiple games, working capital and general corporate purposes.
• Shares of Bright Green Corporation BGXX got a boost, shooting 179% to $1.46. Bright Green announced plans to raise $500 million under EB-5 Capital Program.
• Versus Systems Inc. VS shares were also up, gaining 224% to $1.98 after the company announced it will partner with Resolve to bring generative AI and gamification to customer payments and credit management.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Taysha Gene Therapies, Inc. TSHA shares tumbled 29% to $1.1650 after the company issued an update on TSHA-120 program in giant axonal neuropathy and a 2023 corporate outlook.
• Shares of Varex Imaging Corporation VREX were down 14% to $18.53 after the company issued Q2 EPS guidance below analyst estimates.
• Snap Inc. SNAP was down, falling 13% to $10.05 after the company posted a net loss for the fourth quarter and said revenue could drop by as much as 10% for the current quarter.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 3.1% to $76.46 while gold traded down 0.1% at $1,943.60.

Silver traded down 0.9% to $23.63 on Wednesday while copper fell 2.4% to $4.1240.

Euro zone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 0.03%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.14% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.71%. The German DAX gained 0.35% French CAC 40 fell 0.07% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.39%.

Annual inflation rate in the Eurozone dropped to an eight-month low of 8.5% in January, while annual consumer price inflation in Italy declined to 10.4% in January from 11.6% in the prior month. The S&P Global Eurozone manufacturing PMI rose to 48.8 in January from 47.8 in the prior month.

The S&P Global/CIPS manufacturing PMI for UK was revised higher to 47.0 in versus a preliminary reading of 46.7, while French manufacturing PMI was revised lower to 50.5 in January versus a preliminary level of 50.8. Germany’s manufacturing PMI was revised higher to 47.3 in January from a preliminary reading of 47.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed higher on Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 0.07%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gaining 1.05% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index gaining 0.90%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.3%.

Hong Kong's economy contracted by 4.2% year-over-year in the fourth quarter. The S&P Global Indian manufacturing PMI declined to a three-month low of 55.4 in January. The Caixin China general manufacturing PMI rose to 49.2 in January, while Japanese manufacturing PMI stood at 48.9 in January.

Economics

• Mortgage applications in the US dropped 9% in the week ended January 27.
• The S&P Global US Manufacturing PMI was revised higher to 46.9 in January from a preliminary reading of 46.8.
• Private businesses in the US added 106,000 jobs in January.
• Stocks of crude oil in the US increased by 4.14 million barrels in the week ended January 27, versus market expectations of a 0.376-million-barrel rise, the US Energy Information Administration reported.

Now Read This: Investor Optimism Improves Ahead Of Fed's Decision

COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 104,196,860 cases with around 1,132,930 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,682,780 cases and 530,740 deaths, while France reported over 39,524,310 COVID-19 cases with 164,230 deaths. In total, there were at least 675,217,930 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,762,450 deaths.