The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.05 percent at 34,907.35 at midday Wednesday, while the NASDAQ was up 0.48 percent at 14,747.61. The S&P 500 increased 0.24 percent to 4,379.85.
The United States has the largest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, with 33,914,920 cases and 607,770 deaths reported. India confirmed 30,946,140 cases and 411,400 deaths, whereas Brazil recorded 19,151,990 COVID-19 cases and 535,830 deaths. According to data provided by Johns Hopkins University, there were at least 187,837,100 cases of COVID-19 worldwide, with more than 4,049,850 deaths.
Sectors that are leading and those that are lagging
On Wednesday, shares in the information technology sector increased by 1%. SGOCO Group, Ltd. (NASDAQ: SGOC) and Verb Technology Company, Inc. (NASDAQ: VERB) were the sector’s top gainers, up 52 percent and 32 percent, respectively.
Financial stocks sank 1.2 percent in Wednesday’s trade.
Headline 1:
On Tuesday, Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) released second-quarter results that were stronger than expected.
Citigroup announced quarterly earnings of $2.85 per share, compared to $1.96 per share expected by analysts. The company’s revenue came in at $17.50 billion, compared to $17.20 billion expected.
Equities are rising in value.
The stock of SGOCO Group, Ltd. (NASDAQ: SGOC) soared 52 percent to $14.61. By filing its FY20 20-F on July 12, SGOCO Group restored compliance with Nasdaq’s listing rules.
Datasea Inc. (NASDAQ: DTSS) had its stock rise by 59 percent to $4.65. Shuhai Zhangxun Information Technology Co., Ltd, a subsidiary of Datasea, signed six purchase and distribution agreements to deliver 5G Message-marketing Cloud Platform (5G MMCP) Version 3.0, and added additional district partners to expand product availability across China.
The stock of Verb Technology Company, Inc. (NASDAQ: VERB) was also up, up 32% to $2.9250. SHOP.COM and Verb have announced intentions to develop a live-streaming service called SHOP LIVE.
Take a look at today’s big movers.
Trading of Stocks DOWN
IMARA Inc. (NASDAQ: IMRA) shares fell 16% to $5.97 after the company priced its previously announced underwritten public offering of shares at $6.00 per share, raising $50 million in gross proceeds.
Aspen Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASPU) had its stock drop 10% to $5.77. Aspen Group reported fourth-quarter revenues of $19.10 million, up 35.46 percent year over year, topping the $18.51 million consensus. The net loss per share, on the other hand, was $0.09.
Glaukos Corporation (NASDAQ: GKOS) was down 21% to $57.96 following a downgrade from Outperform to Market Perform by William Blair. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed physician fee schedule for fiscal year 2022, which includes two combined Category I cataract and stent treatment codes.
Commodities
Oil fell 0.5 percent to $74.84 per barrel, while gold rose 0.7 percent to $1,823.30 per ounce.
Silver rose 0.8 percent to $26.36 on Wednesday, while copper declined 0.8 percent to $4.2745.
The Eurozone
Today, European stocks were generally weaker. The STOXX 600 index in the eurozone declined 0.09 percent, the Ibex Index in Spain fell 0.27 percent, and the DAX 30 in Germany gained 0.02 percent. Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 in London dipped 0.45%, the CAC 40 in France fell 0.04 percent, and the FTSE MIB in Italy increased 0.3 percent.
In May, industrial production in the Eurozone fell 1%, marking the first drop in three months. In June, consumer prices in Spain grew by 2.7 percent on an annual basis. In June, producer prices in the United Kingdom increased by 4.3 percent year on year, while annual inflation increased to 2.5 percent from 2.1 percent in May.
Economics
In June, producer prices for final demand increased by 1%.
At 1:30 p.m. ET, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari will speak.
At 2:00 p.m. ET, the Federal Open Market Committee will issue its Beige Book report.
The complete economic calendar can be seen here (C) 2021. Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not offer financial advice. All intellectual property rights are reserved./n
