U.S. stocks traded lower midway through trading, with the Dow Jones dropping more than 800 points on Wednesday.
The Dow traded down 2.49% to 31,840.64 while the NASDAQ fell 3.52% to 11,562.78. The S&P also fell, dropping, 2.99% to 3,966.43.
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Leading and Lagging Sectors
Utilities shares fell by just 0.1% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Huaneng Power International, Inc. (NYSE:HNP), up 6% and Sunnova Energy International Inc. (NYSE:NOVA) up 8%.
In trading on Wednesday, consumer staples shares dipped 4.1%.
Top Headline
Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its first quarter on Wednesday.
Target reported first-quarter FY22 sales growth of 4% year-on-year to $25.17 billion, beating the consensus of $24.37 billion. Adjusted EPS of $2.19 missed the consensus of $3.07.
Target continues to expect FY22 revenue growth of low- to mid-single-digit. The company expects an FY22 operating income margin rate of around 6%.
Equities Trading UP
Decisionpoint Systems, Inc. (NYSE:DPSI) shares shot up 139% to $11.41. DecisionPoint Systems recently reported first-quarter FY22 revenue growth of 22.7% year-on-year to $19.7 million.
Shares of DLocal Limited (NASDAQ:DLO) got a boost, shooting 31% to $25.12 after the company reported better-than-expected Q1 sales results.
Armstrong Flooring, Inc. (NYSE:AFI) shares were also up, gaining 34% to $0.3939 after receiving approval for additional financing.
Equities Trading DOWN
Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) shares tumbled 24% to $163.42 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q1 earnings and also reported a drop in operating income margin rate.
Shares of Visionary Education Technology Holdings Group Inc. (NASDAQ:VEDU) were down 39% to $15.17. Visionary Education recently priced its IPO at $4 per share.
Baudax Bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BXRX) was down, falling 29% to $0.8350 after the company reported a $2.0 million registered direct offering priced at-the-market under Nasdaq rules.
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Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.3% to $112.08, while gold traded down 0.4% to $1,812.10.
Silver traded down 1% to $21.54 on Wednesday while copper fell 0.7% to $4.2105.
Euro zone
European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropped 0.9%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.7% and Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.09%. The German DAX dipped 0.99%, French CAC 40 fell 0.89% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.57%.
UK’s producer inflation increased 14% year-over-year in April from 11.9% in March, while annual inflation rate accelerated to 9% in April, the highest since 1982. Passenger car sales in the European Union dipped 20.6% year-over-year to 684,506 units in April.
Economics
Housing starts dropped 0.2% from a month ago to an annualized rate of 1.724 million units in April following a revised 2.8% decline in March. Building permits declined 3.2% to an annual rate of 1.819 million in April.
US crude oil inventories unexpectedly dropped by 3.394 million barrels in the week ended May 13, following an 8.487-million-barrel increase in the prior week, the Energy Information Administration said.
The Treasury will auction 20-year bonds at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker is set to speak at 4:00 p.m. ET.
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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 84,473,440 cases with around 1,027,280 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 43,127,190 cases and 524,290 deaths, while Brazil reported over 30,728,280 COVID-19 cases with 665,270 deaths. In total, there were at least 524,246,130 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,292,850 deaths.
