Dow Drops Over 100 Points; Morgan Stanley Profit Beats Views

U.S. stocks traded lower this morning, with the Dow Jones dropping over 100 points on Wednesday.

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded down 0.34% to 33,860.62 while the NASDAQ fell 0.66% to 12,073.62. The S&P 500, also fell, dropping, 0.42% to 4,137.31.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

• Utilities shares rose by 0.6% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Alliant Energy Corporation LNT, up 2%, and Cadiz Inc. CDZI, up 2%.
• In trading on Wednesday, communication services fell by 1.1%.

Top Headline

Morgan Stanley MS reported upbeat Q1 earnings results.

Morgan Stanley reported Q1 net revenues of $14.5 billion, down from $14.8 billion a year ago, exceeding the consensus of $13.9 billion. Net income declined to $3.0 billion from $3.7 billion a year ago, with EPS of $1.70 beating the consensus of $1.62.

Equities Trading UP

• VYNE Therapeutics Inc. VYNE shares shot up 31% to $4.10 after the company announced new preclinical data showing the effect of its novel pan-BET inhibitor, VYN201, in a preclinical model of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
• Shares of SAI.TECH Global Corporation SAI got a boost, shooting 32% to $3.32.
• Western Alliance Bancorporation WAL shares were also up, gaining 17% to $38.16 after the company reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Oblong, Inc. OBLG shares dropped 32% to $2.33 after jumping more than 61% on Tuesday.
• Shares of Extreme Networks, Inc. EXTR were down 17% to $15.21. Craig-Hallum downgraded Extreme Networks from Buy to Hold and announced a $17.5 price target.
• CDW Corporation CDW was down, falling 13% to $165.26 after the company issued preliminary Q1 sales below estimates.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 2% to $79.21 while gold traded down 1% at $1,999.90.

Silver traded up 0.1% to $25.275 on Wednesday while copper fell 1.1% to $4.0485.

Stocks of crude oil in the US dropped by 2.675 million barrels in the week that April 14, 2023, compared to estimates of a 2.464 million decline, the API said Tuesday.

Euro zone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.2%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.2% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.3%. The German DAX fell 0.1%, French CAC 40 rose 0.1% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.2%.

Construction output in the Eurozone increased 2.3% from a year ago in February versus a revised 0.5% growth in the previous month. The annual inflation rate in the Eurozone was confirmed at 6.9% in March, recording its lowest level since Feb. 2022. The Eurozone recorded a current account surplus of EUR 21.3 billion in February versus a year-ago deficit of EUR 1.9 billion.

UK’s producer inflation eased to 8.7% year-over-year in March versus a revised 11.9% in the prior month, while consumer price inflation rate slowed to 10.1% year-over-year in March from 10.4% in February.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed lower on Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropping 0.18%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index falling 1.37% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index declining 0.68%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex dropped 0.2%.

Industrial production in Japan climbed 4.6 percent month-over-month in February. The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Leading Economic Index in Australia came in almost flat versus the previous month during March.

Economics

Mortgage applications in the US fell 8.8% in the week ended April 14, 2023, following a 5.3% increase in the prior week, according to Mortgage Bankers Association.

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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 106,481,960 cases with around 1,158,340 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,845,400 cases and 531,190 deaths, while France reported over 39,914,030 COVID-19 cases with 166,160 deaths. In total, there were at least 685,865,890 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,843,940 deaths.