Dow Rises 75 Points; Fed Increases Rates By 25bps

Author: Lisa Levin | March 22, 2023 02:11pm

U.S. stocks traded higher toward the end of trading, with the Dow Jones gaining around 75 points on Wednesday.

The Dow traded up 0.23% to 32,635.71 while the NASDAQ rose 0.65% to 11,932.62. The S&P 500, also rose, gaining, 0.34% to 4,016.52.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares rose by 0.8% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included inTEST Corporation (NYSE:INTT), up 12%, and ZeroFox Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZFOX), up 7%.
In trading on Wednesday, real estate shares fell 1.6%.

Top Headline

The Federal Reserve increased the fed funds rate by 25bps to 4.75%-5% at its meeting, sending borrowing costs to new highs since 2007.

Equities Trading UP

Virgin Orbit Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VORB) shares shot up 56% to $0.6901 following a report suggesting the company is nearing a $200 million investment through a private share placement. The company also said it will initiate an incremental resumption of operations beginning Mar. 23.
Shares of 89bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ETNB) got a boost, shooting 29% to $14.15 after the company's Phase 2b ENLIVEN trial of pegozafermin in NASH achieved statistical significance on both primary histology endpoints.
GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) shares were also up, gaining 39% to $24.55 after the company turned in a profitable quarter for the first time in two years.

Equities Trading DOWN

Luokung Technology Corp. (NASDAQ:LKCO) shares tumbled 31% to $2.03 after the company announced a 30-to-1 share combination.
Shares of Edible Garden AG Incorporated (NASDAQ:EDBL) were down 35% to $2.6550 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q4 financial results.
Muscle Maker, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRIL) was down, falling 17% to $1.04 after the company reported Q4 results.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.9% to $70.28 while gold traded up 0.6% at $1,952.10.

Silver traded up 1.7% to $22.81 on Wednesday while copper rose 1.2% to $4.0415.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.15%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.41% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.44%. The German DAX gained 0.14%, French CAC 40 climbed 0.26% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.12%.

Annual inflation rate in the UK rose to 10.4% in February from 10.1% in the previous month. Italian current account deficit narrowed to EUR 5.225 billion in January from EUR 5.470 billion in the year-ago period.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed higher on Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 1.93%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rising 1.73% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index gaining 0.31%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.24%.

The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Leading Economic Index in Australia slipped 0.06% from a month ago in February following a 0.12% decline in the earlier month.

Economics

Mortgage applications in the US increased 3% in the week ended March 17, 2023, data from the Mortgage Bankers Association showed.
US crude oil inventories increased by 1.1170 million barrels in the week ended March 17, 2023, versus market estimates of a 1.565 million-barrel decline, according to the recent US Energy Information Administration report.
The Federal Reserve increased the fed funds rate by 25bps to 4.75%-5% at its meeting, sending borrowing costs to new highs since 2007.

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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 105,988,110 cases with around 1,151,880 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,698,110 cases and 530,810 deaths, while France reported over 39,716,260 COVID-19 cases with 165,410 deaths. In total, there were at least 682,804,380 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,821,670 deaths.

Posted In: EDBL ETNB GME GRIL INTT LKCO VORB ZFOX