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.

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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