Nasdaq Moves Higher; Morgan Stanley Profit Beats Estimates

U.S. stocks traded higher toward the end of trading, with the Dow Jones index gaining more than 300 points on Wednesday.

The Dow traded up 0.78% to 43,072.45 while the NASDAQ rose 0.32% to 18,374.03. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.47% to 5,842.65.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares jumped by 1.6% on Tuesday.

In trading on Tuesday, communication services shares fell by 0.6%.

Top Headline

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) reported better-than-expected third-quarter results.

The company posted adjusted EPS of $1.88, up from $1.38 a year ago, beating the consensus of $1.58, demonstrating the strength of Integrated Firm with strong results across business segments. Net earnings increased almost 33% to $3.2 billion. The U.S. bank reported third-quarter sales of $15.38 billion, up 15.9% year over year, beating the consensus of $14.41 billion.

Equities Trading UP
                       

• 180 Life Sciences Corp (NASDAQ:ATNF) shares shot up 515% to $9.35. 180 Life Sciences interim CEO said that the company is planning to enter the online gaming industry with its newly acquired gaming technology platform.
• Shares of Altus Power, Inc. (NYSE:AMPS) got a boost, surging 23% to $3.7050 after the company announced that a formal review of strategic alternatives has been underway by its Board of Directors. Also, the company reaffirmed its FY24 guidance.
• Versus Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:VS) shares were also up, gaining 304% to $4.5699 after the company announced a $2.5 million investment and licensing agreement with ASPIS.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Service Properties Trust (NYSE:SVC) shares dropped 17% to $3.9650 after the company announced actions to improve liquidity and reduce leverage. It reduced its quarterly dividend to 1 cent per share.
• Shares of Silvaco Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SVCO) were down 29% to $7.90 after the company reported a decline in orders from Asia during third quarter and cut its FY24 revenue outlook.
• Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) was down, falling 17% to $10.49 after the FDA placed a clinical hold on the company’s investigational new drug application for its COVID-19-influenza combination and standalone influenza vaccine candidates.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.1% to $70.67 while gold traded up 0.5% at $2,691.70.

Silver traded up 0.7% to $31.985 on Wednesday, while copper rose 0.8% to $4.3730.

Euro zone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.19%, Germany's DAX fell 0.27% and France's CAC 40 fell 0.40%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 0.56%, while London's FTSE 100 gained 0.97%.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 1.83%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index falling 0.16%, China's Shanghai Composite Index gaining 0.05% and India's BSE Sensex falling 0.39%.

Economics

• U.S. mortgage applications fell by 17% from the previous week during the second week of October.
• Export prices in the U.S. declined by 0.7% month-over-month in September, exceeding market estimates of a 0.4% fall.
• Import prices declined by 0.4% from the previous month in September.

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