U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining around 200 points on Tuesday.

The Dow traded up 0.17% to 42,026.90 while the NASDAQ rose 1.15% to 18,130.79. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.75% to 5,738.42.

Leading and Lagging Sectors
Information technology shares jumped by 1.4% on Tuesday.

In trading on Tuesday, energy shares dipped by 2.6%.

Top Headline

The trade deficit in the U.S. shrank to $70.4 billion in August, recording the lowest level in five months, compared to a revised $78.9 billion gap in July and versus market estimates of a $70.6 billion shortfall.

Equities Trading UP

• Alternus Clean Energy Inc (NASDAQ:ALCE) shares shot up 48% to $0.2218. Alternus shed $100 million of debt and payables, improved shareholder equity position by Circa $45 million from disposal of certain subsidiaries.
• Shares of Bio-Path Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPTH) got a boost, surging 36% to $1.18. The company initiated a therapeutic program to develop BP1001-A for treating obesity and related metabolic diseases. This program marks the first application of DNAbilize technology to develop a non-cancer application.
• Cassava Sciences, Inc (NASDAQ:SAVA) shares were also up, gaining 21% to $30.64. Cassava announced separation of CEO and board roles. HC Wainwright & Co. analyst Vernon Bernardino upgraded Cassava Sciences from Neutral to Buy and announced a $116 price target.

Equities Trading DOWN

• ZJK Industrial Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ:ZJK) shares dropped 29% to $4.8001 after gaining 35% on Monday.
• Shares of JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. (NYSE:JKS) were down 20% to $26.32.
• Lufax Holding Ltd (NYSE:LU) was down, falling 15% to $3.3550. Shares of US-listed Chinese stocks traded lower after Chinese planning officials reportedly fell short of investor stimulus expectations.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 4.4% to $73.72 while gold traded down 0.3% at $2,657.00.

Silver traded down 2.2% to $31.310 on Tuesday, while copper fell 1.8% to $4.4845.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.43%, Germany's DAX fell 0.08% and France's CAC 40 fell 0.70%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index slipped 0.06%, while London's FTSE 100 fell 1.21%.

France's trade deficit increased to €7.4 billion in August versus a revised €6.0 billion gap in the previous month. Germany's industrial production rose by 2.9% month-over-month in August, compared to a revised 2.9% fall in the previous month,

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly lower on Tuesday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 1%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dipping 9.41%, China's Shanghai Composite Index falling 4.59% and India's BSE Sensex gaining 0.72%.

The gauge for Japan's service sector fell to 47.8 in September compared to 49.0 in the prior month. Japan's current account surplus widened to JPY 3,803.6 billion in August from JPY 2,293.8 billion in the year-ago month.

Economics

• The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index rose to 91.5 in September compared to 91.2 in August, and down from market estimates of 91.7.
• The trade deficit in the U.S. shrank to $70.4 billion in August, recording the lowest level in five months, compared to a revised $78.9 billion gap in July and versus market estimates of a $70.6 billion shortfall.

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