U.S. stocks experienced a minor decline in the latter part of trading, with the Dow Jones index shedding around 100 points on Wednesday.
The Dow was down by 0.27% to 38,867.91 while the NASDAQ dropped 0.50% to 15,954.75. The S&P 500 also saw a decline, falling 0.18% to 5,068.92.
Market Movement
Real estate shares rose by 1.4% on Wednesday, while communication services shares observed a 0.8% decrease.
ADT Shines
ADT Inc. reported impressive earnings for its fourth quarter on Wednesday, surpassing expectations.
ADT disclosed a fourth-quarter fiscal 2023 sales decline of 7.2% year-on-year to $1.22 billion, falling short of the predicted $1.44 billion. Adjusted EPS stood at 25 cents, outperforming the anticipated 4 cents.
The company foresees a CSB segment revenue range of $4.8 billion to $5.0 billion and an adjusted EPS between $0.60 and $0.70, surpassing the consensus of $0.50.
Winners and Losers
Vivani Medical, Inc. shares surged 274% to $3.78 after revealing preclinical data on weight loss effects. Additionally, Adial Pharmaceuticals, Inc. shares soared 159% to $2.1917 after securing a new US patent for their alcohol use disorder product. Similarly, vTv Therapeutics Inc. witnessed a 117% increase to $18.05 after announcing a substantial private placement.
Conversely, Oragenics, Inc. shares tumbled 42% to $1.42 due to a public offering, Integral Ad Science Holding Corp. plummeted 42% to $9.92 after financial results, and Inogen, Inc. dropped 35% to $6.08 following disappointing quarterly performance.
Commodity and International Updates
In the commodities market, oil traded down 0.3% to $78.65, gold fell 0.2% to $2,040.40, silver decreased 0.5% to $22.645, and copper dipped 0.3% to $3.8390.
Across the Eurozone, stock markets saw varied movements with declines noted in some indices. Economic indicators showed mixed signals with reports of decreasing services and economic sentiment indicators but an uptick in consumer confidence.
Asian markets experienced losses on Wednesday, with Japan, Hong Kong, China, and India all seeing declines. Notable economic data included Hong Kong’s GDP rise and Japan’s revised leading and coincident economic indicators.
Key Economic Indicators
Mortgage applications in the US dropped by 5.6% for the week ending Feb. 23. The fourth quarter saw the US economy grow by an annualized 3.2% compared to 4.9% in the previous quarter. Furthermore, the US trade deficit in goods rose to $90.20 billion in January, while wholesale inventories declined by 0.1% in January.
Notably, US crude oil inventories increased by 4.199 million barrels, exceeding market estimates, as reported by the EIA.