Nasdaq Gains 50 Points; US Inflation Rate Rises In August

U.S. stocks traded higher this morning, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining around 50 points on Wednesday.

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.11% to 34,685.47 while the NASDAQ rose 0.39% to 13,827.83. The S&P 500, also rose, gaining, 0.25% to 4,473.00.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer discretionary shares jumped by 0.8% on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, materials shares fell by 0.3%.

Top Headline

The annual inflation rate in the U.S. rose for a second consecutive month to 3.7% in August from 3.2% in the previous month, and also above market estimates of 3.6%. Consumer prices increased 0.6% month-over-month in August following a 0.2% growth in July.

Equities Trading UP

Avalo Therapeutics, Inc. AVTX shares shot up 73% to $0.2135. Avalo Therapeutics, on Sept 12, got notice from the Nasdaq as of Sept 11 the company’s securities had closing bid price of $0.10/less for 10 consecutive trading days.

Shares of ZyVersa Therapeutics, Inc. ZVSA got a boost, shooting 46% to $0.1881.

Axcella Health Inc. AXLA shares were also up, gaining 27% to $1.45 after jumping more than 59% on Tuesday.

Equities Trading DOWN

Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, Inc. EIGR shares dropped 39% to $0.4199 after the company announced its decision to discontinue the Phase 3 LIMT-2 study of peginterferon lambda in patients with chronic hepatitis delta.

Shares of Calidi Biotherapeutics CLDI were down 46% to $3.4850 following the company’s public debut.

KULR Technology Group, Inc. KULR was down, falling 33% to $0.3870 as the company reported pricing of $2.5 million public offering of common stock.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.3% to $89.14 while gold traded down 0.2% at $1,932.00.

Silver traded down 1.1% to $23.14 on Wednesday while copper fell 0.1% to $3.7885.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.8% London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.3% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.9% The German DAX fell 0.7% French CAC 40 fell 0.7%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.9%.

Industrial production in the Eurozone fell by 1.1% month-over-month in July, compared to market expectations for a 0.7% decrease.

The British economy contracted by 0.5% month-over-month in July following a 0.5% growth in the prior month. The UK's trade deficit shrank to £3.446 billion in July from £4.787 billion a month ago, while industrial production declined 0.7% month-over-month in July. Manufacturing output dropped 0.8% month-over-month in July, while construction output rose by 2.8% year-over-year in July.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 falling 0.21%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index falling 0.09% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index declining 0.45%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex, meanwhile, rose 0.4%.

Producer prices in Japan increased by 3.2% year-over-year in August following a revised 3.4% growth in July, while Reuters Tankan sentiment index for manufacturers dropped to +4 in September versus August’s reading of +12.

Economics

Mortgage applications in the U.S. declined 0.8% in the week ending Sept. 8, 2023, versus a 2.9% decline in the prior period.

The annual inflation rate in the U.S. rose for a second consecutive month to 3.7% in August from 3.2% in the previous month, and also above market estimates of 3.6%. Consumer prices increased 0.6% month-over-month in August following a 0.2% growth in July.

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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 108,331,780 cases with around 1,174,690 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,997,820 cases and 531,930 deaths, while France reported over 40,138,560 COVID-19 cases with 167,640 deaths. In total, there were at least 695,188,410 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,914,960 deaths.