U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining around 0.1% on Wednesday.

The Dow traded up 0.32% to 50,621.00 while the NASDAQ rose 0.14% to 26,692.26. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.08% to 7,525.18.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer discretionary shares jumped by 1.9% on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, energy stocks fell by 1.3%.

Top Headline

Dycom Industries Inc (NYSE:DY) shares jumped around 29% on Wednesday as the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter sales results and raised its FY27 sales guidance above estimates.

Dycom Industries reported quarterly earnings of $4.42 per share. The company reported quarterly sales of $1.964 billion which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.670 billion.

Equities Trading UP
         

• Astrotech Corp (NASDAQ:ASTC) shares shot up 260% to $8.88 after the company announced it approved a strategic initiative focused on lunar resource development, autonomous lunar industrial infrastructure and future Moon-based advanced computing and semiconductor manufacturing opportunities.
• Shares of Digital Turbine Inc (NASDAQ:APPS) got a boost, surging 50% to $7.21 after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results and issued FY27 sales guidance above estimates.
• Soligenix, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNGX) shares were also up, gaining 100% to $1.02 following the biotech's announcement that its ThermoVax platform can rapidly develop a Bundibugyo virus vaccine, addressing a World Health Organization-declared Ebola outbreak emergency.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Verra Mobility Corp (NASDAQ:VRRM) shares dropped 74% to $3.46 after the company cut its FY26 guidance below estimates. The company received a termination notice from Avis Budget Group for its contract. Also, Deutsche Bank and Baird downgraded their rating on the stock and lowered their respective price targets.
• Shares of Zscaler Inc (NASDAQ:ZS) were down 31% to $126.50 as the company after the company reported third-quarter financial results and issued fourth-quarter sales guidance with its midpoint below estimates.
• Artelo Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:ARTL) was down, falling 25% to $1.29 after the company announced it filed a prospectus to offer up to $6.53 million in common stock.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 5.4% to $88.87 while gold traded down 1.4% at $4,440.20.

Silver traded down 2.3% to $74.855 on Wednesday, while copper fell 0.5% to $6.3680.

Euro zone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.1%, while Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 0.4%. London's FTSE 100 fell 0.1%, Germany's DAX slipped 0.1%, while France's CAC 40 surged 0.5%.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 gaining 0.005%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declining 1.06%, China's Shanghai Composite falling 1.25% and India's BSE Sensex declining 0.19%

Economics

• U.S. mortgage applications declined by 8.3% in the third week of May, following a 2.3% fall in the previous period.
• The Federal Reserve’s Fifth District manufacturing index rose by 10 points to a reading of 13 in May.

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