Crude Oil Edges Lower; PaySign Shares Spike Higher

U.S. stocks traded mostly higher midway through trading, with the Dow Jones gaining over 200 points on Wednesday.

The Dow traded up 0.56% to 39,502.25 while the NASDAQ fell 0.08% to 16,302.03. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.27% to 5,217.52.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Real estate shares jumped by 1.8% on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, information technology shares fell by 0.4%.

Top Headline

Crude oil inventories in the U.S. increased by 3.165 million barrels in the week ended March 22, compared to market estimates of a 1.275 million decline, the Energy Information Administration said.

Equities Trading UP

Lixte Biotechnology Holdings, Inc. LIXT shares shot up 49% to $3.38 after the company announced the publication of pre-clinical data on its lead clinical compound, LB-100.

Shares of MariaDB plc MRDB got a boost, surging 73% to $0.39 after Progress Software announced that it is possibly considering an offer for the company.

PaySign, Inc. PAYS shares were also up, gaining 20% to $4.0450 after the company announced better-than-expected fourth-quarter results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Gamida Cell Ltd. GMDA shares dropped 84% to $0.0539 after the company reported fourth-quarter results and disclosed the commencement of a restructuring process.

Shares of Direct Digital Holdings, Inc. DRCT were down 45% to $14.41 after the company reported worse-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results.

Velo3D, Inc. VLD was down, falling 41% to $0.34 after the company reported worse-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.3% to $81.42 while gold traded up 0.6% at $2,211.80.

Silver traded up 0.3% to $24.69 on Wednesday, while copper fell 0.4% to $3.9930.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.04%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.22% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.91% The German DAX rose 0.50% French CAC 40 rose 0.38% while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.16%.

The economic sentiment indicator in the eurozone climbed to a three-month high level of 96.3 in March, while services confidence indicator rose to 6.3 from 6 a month ago. The consumer confidence indicator in the eurozone increased by 0.6 points to a reading of -14.9 in March.

Spain posted a current account surplus of €5,127 million in January, higher than the €2,340 million surplus recorded in year-ago period, while consumer price inflation rate accelerated to 3.2% year-over-year in March. The construction output in Italy surged by 14.8% year-over-year in January, while consumer confidence indicator in France climbed to 91 in March.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 0.90%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index falling 1.36%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index dipping 1.26% and India’s S&P BSE Sensex gaining 0.73%.

Profits earned by Chinese industrial firms jumped by 10.2% year-over-year to CNY 914.06 billion during the first two months of the year.

Economics

U.S. mortgage applications declined by 0.7% on the week ending March 22, 2024.

Crude oil inventories in the U.S. increased by 3.165 million barrels in the week ended March 22, compared to market estimates of a 1.275 million decline, the Energy Information Administration said.

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