U.S. stocks traded higher this morning, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining around 150 points on Wednesday.

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.13% to 53,862.90 while the NASDAQ rose 0.62% to 26,608.49. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.35% to 7,755.04.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares jumped by 1.2% on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, health care stocks fell by 0.9%.

Top Headline

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.4% year-over-year in July, line with the annual inflation economists expected and down from June’s 3.5% increase, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.

On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.1%, a rebound from June’s 0.4% decline and matching the 0.1% economists expected. Core CPI, which strips out food and energy, rose by 0.2% on the month, in line with forecasts. The annual core inflation rate eased from 2.6% to 2.5%, again matching expectations.

Equities Trading UP
         

• OFA Group (NASDAQ:OFAL) shares shot up 321% to $3.00. OFA Group, last month, announced a 1-for-10 share consolidation.
• Shares of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (NASDAQ:RMCF) got a boost, surging 128% to $1.53.
• Boxlight Corp (NASDAQ:BOXL) shares were also up, gaining 81% to $5.33 after the company announced it closed a private placement for up to $7.5 million in newly created Series D Convertible Preferred Stock.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Planet Green Holdings Corp (NYSE:PLAG) shares dropped 78% to $1.29. Planet Green recently announced its entry into commercial operations to source, market and distribute lactoferrin for Chinese market.
• Shares of Silexion Therapeutics Corp (NASDAQ:SLXN) were down 56% to $0.46 after the company announced the pricing of its $2.5 million public offering of 3,846,161 shares at $0.65 per share.
• Greenland Energy Co (NASDAQ:GLND) was down, falling 35% to $1.31 after the company announced it received an update from 80 Mile that the project’s complexity will require a more extensive, comprehensive review process.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.4% to $82.89 while gold traded up 1.1% at $4,490.50.

Silver traded up 2.2% to $66.365 on Wednesday, while copper rose 0.8% to $6.6865.

Euro zone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.1%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.2% London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.1%, Germany’s DAX gained 0.3%, while France’s CAC 40 fell 0.3%.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 0.83%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dipping 0.83%, China’s Shanghai Composite rising 0.32% and India’s BSE Sensex declining 0.24%.

Economics

• The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.4% year-over-year in July, line with the annual inflation economists expected and down from June’s 3.5% increase, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.
• On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.1% in July, a rebound from June’s 0.4% decline and matching the 0.1% economists expected.
• The volume of mortgage applications increased by 3.6% in the first week of August, recording the largest gain in two months.

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