U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining more than 300 points on Wednesday.

The Dow traded up 0.49% to 44,296.79 while the NASDAQ rose 1.70% to 20,022.55. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.89% to 6,088.63.

Leading and Lagging Sectors
Communication services shares jumped by 3.1% on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, health care shares fell by 1%.

Top Headline

Macy's Inc (NYSE:M) reported third-quarter sales of $4.74 billion, beating the consensus of $4.72 billion.

The retailer reported adjusted EPS of $0.04, down from $0.21 a year ago, beating the consensus of $0.03.

Macy's expects 2024 sales of $22.3 billion—$22.5 billion, compared to prior guidance of $22.1 billion—$22.4 billion and a consensus of $22.42 billion. Macy's expects 2024 adjusted EPS of $2.25-$2.50 compared to prior guidance of $2.34-$2.69 and a consensus of $2.73, including accounting error.

Equities Trading UP

• Candel Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CADL) shares shot up 59% to $7.32 after the company announced results from its Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating CAN-2409 viral immunotherapy in localized prostate cancer patients.
• Shares of AmpliTech Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPG) got a boost, surging 74% to $1.73 after the company announced the development and deployment of its proprietary low-noise cryogenic High Electron Mobility Transistor amplifiers.
• SEALSQ Corp (NASDAQ:LAES) shares were also up, gaining 101% to $1.15.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Cellectar Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLRB) shares dropped 76% to $0.30 after the company announced it is seeking strategic options for the Iopofosine I 131 late-stage clinical program. This will impact all departments and result in an immediate 60% headcount reduction.
• Shares of Q32 Bio Inc (NASDAQ:QTTB) were down 73% to $6.60 after the company announced that while its SIGNAL-AD Phase 2a clinical trial in atopic dermatitis showed promising findings in Part A, it did not meet the primary endpoint in Part B.
• TFF Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:TFFP) was down, falling 42% to $0.17.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 2.1% to $70.00 while gold traded up 1.4% at $2,756.10.

Silver traded up 0.7% to $32.960 on Tuesday, while copper fell 0.3% to $4.2605.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 0.28%, Germany's DAX rose 0.34% and France's CAC 40 gained 0.39%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 1.47%, while London's FTSE 100 rose 0.26%.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly higher on Wednesday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 gaining 0.01%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index falling 0.77%, China's Shanghai Composite Index gaining 0.29% and India's BSE Sensex gaining 0.02%.

Economics

• The Consumer Price Index rose by 2.7% year-over-year in November 2024, exceeding October's 2.6% reading and matching analyst estimates of 2.7%, according to TradingEconomics. This marks the second consecutive increase in annual inflation — a trend not seen since April.
• On a monthly basis, the CPI jumped 0.3%, accelerating from October's 0.2% gain and matching expectations of a 0.3% rise, official data released Wednesday showed.
• U.S. crude inventories declined by 1.425 million barrels in the latest week, compared to market estimates of a 1.1 million-barrel decline.

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