U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining around 250 points on Wednesday.

The Dow traded up 0.95% to 39,367.42 while the NASDAQ rose 1.52% to 16,616.10. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 1.33% to 5,309.90.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed by 2% on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, health care shares rose by just 0.1%.

Top Headline

The EIA said crude oil inventories in the U.S. declined by 3.728 million barrels in the week ended Aug. 2, compared to market estimates of a 0.4 million barrel decline.

Equities Trading UP
                       

Equities Trading DOWN

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 3.5% to $75.76 while gold traded up 0.3% at $2,437.90.

Silver traded down 0.4% to $27.095 on Wednesday, while copper fell 1.5% to $3.9655.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 1.55%, Germany's DAX rose 1.46% and France's CAC 40 climbed 1.87%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index gained 2.13%, while London's FTSE 100 rose 1.71%.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed higher on Wednesday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 jumping 1.19%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gaining 1.38%, China's Shanghai Composite Index rising 0.09% and S&P BSE Sensex jumping 1.11%.

Economics

• The Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index rose 2.8% month-over-month for July.
• Mortgage applications rose by 6.9% from the prior week in the period ending August 2.
• The EIA said crude oil inventories in the U.S. declined by 3.728 million barrels in the week ended Aug. 2, compared to market estimates of a 0.4 million barrel decline.

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