U.S. stocks traded mostly flat midway through trading, with the S&P 500 turning lower on Wednesday.

The Dow traded up 0.01% to 36,126.75 while the NASDAQ rose 0.03% to 14,233.77. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 0.05% to 4,565.09.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares rose by 1.1% on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares dipped by 1.3%.

Top Headline

The EIA said crude oil inventories in the U.S. declined by 4.632 million barrels in the week ending Dec. 1, 2023, following a 1.609 million increase in the prior period.

Equities Trading UP

Sera Prognostics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SERA) shares shot up 259% to $7.79 after the company announced the DSMB overseeing its PRIME study recommended stopping enrollment due to efficacy.

Shares of MicroAlgo Inc. (NASDAQ:MLGO) got a boost, shooting 120% to $5.33 after the company announced it plans to establish a postgraduate training practice base.

Pharvaris N.V. (NASDAQ:PHVS) shares were also up, gaining 29% to $26.92 after the company announced the CHAPTER-1 Phase 2 clinical study met its primary endpoint.

Equities Trading DOWN

ImmunoPrecise Antibodies Ltd. (NASDAQ:IPA) shares dropped 32% to $1.0450 after the company announced pricing of a $1.1 million public offering of common shares.

Shares of Yext, Inc. (NYSE:YEXT) were down 19% to $5.66 after the company reported third-quarter financial results and issued guidance.

OptiNose, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPTN) was down, falling 24% to $1.1232 after the company announced a three-month extension of the FDA review period for the supplemental new drug application for XHANCE as a treatment for chronic rhinosinusitis.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 4.1% to $69.33 while gold traded up 0.6% at $2,048.30.

Silver traded down 0.4% to $24.455 on Wednesday while copper rose 0.1% to $3.7870.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.66%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.56% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.38% The German DAX rose 0.85% French CAC 40 rose 0.74%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 1.04%.

Retail sales in the Eurozone rose by 0.1% month-over-month in October, versus market expectations of a 0.2% increase. The HCOB Eurozone construction PMI climbed to 43.4 in November compared to October's ten-month low level of 42.7.

The S&P Global/CIPS UK construction PMI fell to 45.5 in November from 45.6 in the previous month, while France construction PMI rose to 44.6 in November from October’s reading of 41. Germany’s construction PMI declined to 36.2 in November from 38.3 in October.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly higher on Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumping 2.04%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gaining 0.83% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index falling 0.11%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex, meanwhile, climbed 0.52%.

The Reuters Tankan sentiment index for manufacturers in Japan climbed to a reading of +12 in December versus +6 a month ago. The Australian economy expanded 0.2% quarter-over-quarter in the third quarter versus a 0.4% increase in the second quarter.

Economics

U.S. private businesses hired 103,000 workers in November compared to a revised 106,000 gain in October and versus markets expectations of 130,000.

The U.S. trade gap increased to $64.3 billion in October from a revised $61.2 billion gap in September.

Nonfarm business sector labor productivity rose by 5.2% in the third quarter compared to preliminary estimates of 4.7% growth.

Unit labor costs in the US nonfarm business sector declined an annualized 1.2% during the third quarter versus the preliminary estimate of a 0.8% decline.

The EIA said crude oil inventories in the U.S. declined by 4.632 million barrels in the week ending Dec. 1, 2023, following a 1.609 million increase in the prior period.

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