Nasdaq Surges Over 1%; ISM Services PMI Tops Views

U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining more than 1% on Wednesday.

The Dow traded up 0.67% to 48,823.29 while the NASDAQ climbed 1.39% to 22,830.06. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.85% to 6,874.80.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer discretionary shares rose by 1.6% on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, energy stocks dipped by 1.2%.

Top Headline

The ISM services PMI climbed to 56.1 in February from 53.8 in the previous month and topping market estimates of 53.5.

Equities Trading UP
           

• VCI Global Ltd (NASDAQ:VCIG) shares shot up 63% to $13.05 after the company announced that its subsidiary, V Gallant, went live with Malaysia’s first NVIDIA-powered AI GPU Computing Center.
• Shares of Latham Group Inc (NASDAQ:SWIM) got a boost, surging 22% to $7.88 after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results and issued FY26 sales guidance above estimates.
• Can Fite Biopharma (NYSE:CANF) shares were also up, gaining 108% to $10.40 after the company announced that its Phase 2a study evaluating Namodenoson for advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma met its primary endpoint.

Equities Trading DOWN

• indie Semiconductor Inc (NASDAQ:INDI) shares dropped 25% to $2.37 after the company announced pricing of a $150 million private offering of Convertible Senior Notes.
• Shares of Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:RIGL) were down 14% to $28.51 following downbeat quarterly earnings.
• Garden Stage Ltd (NASDAQ:GSIW) was down, falling 33% to $0.060 after the company announced a 200-for-1 reverse stock split.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.7% to $74.06 while gold traded up 0.8% at $5,164.30.

Silver traded up 0.4% to $83.825 on Wednesday, while copper rose 1.1% to $5.8875.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 1.33%, while Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 2.26%. London's FTSE 100 rose 0.69%, Germany's DAX gained 1.47% and France's CAC 40 jumped 0.96% during the session.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed lower on Wednesday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 3.61%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dipping 2.01%, China's Shanghai Composite falling 0.98% and India's BSE Sensex declining 1.40%.

Economics

• U.S. private businesses added 63,000 jobs in February, the most since July, compared to a revised 11,000 gain in the previous month and above market estimates of 50,000.
• The S&P Global services PMI declined to 51.7 in February from 52.7 in the previous month, compared to market estimates of 53.
• The S&P Global composite PMI fell to 51.9 in February from 53 in the previous month, recording the lowest reading in ten months.
• The ISM services PMI climbed to 56.1 in February from 53.8 in the previous month and topping market estimates of 53.5.
• U.S. crude inventories rose by 3.475 million barrels to 439.3 million in the week ending Feb. 27, versus market estimates of a 2.3 million-barrel gain.

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