Crude Oil Down Over 3%; US Business Inventories Surge In July

U.S. stocks traded mixed midway through trading, with the Dow Jones index falling around 0.1% on Wednesday.The Dow traded down 0.07% to 52,058.51 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.72% to 26,168.28. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.33% to 7,610.98.Leading and Lagging SectorsInformation technology shares jumped by 0.9% on Wednesday.In trading on Wednesday, energy stocks fell by 1.9%.Top HeadlineU.S. business inventories rose by 0.8% month-over-month in July, following a revised 0.1% gain in the previous month and higher than market estimates of a 0.3% gain.Equities Trading UP LuxExperience BV-ADR (NYSE:LUXE) shares shot up 19% to $8.47 after the company reported fourth-quarter results. Shares of DataMeds AI Inc (NASDAQ:MEDS) got a boost, surging 264% to $5.89 after the company announced it acquired Helomics. Delixy Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:DLXY) shares were also up, gaining 70% to $0.70 after the company announced it entered into a non-binding letter of intent with Caog for acquisition or merger of up to 48% of shares in Tarbagatay Munay. Equities Trading DOWN Cuprina Holdings (Cayman) Ltd (NASDAQ:CUPR) shares dropped 49% to $1.50 after the company announced the pricing of $4.97 million public offering. Shares of Xenetic Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:XBIO) were down 37% to $2.68 after the company announced a deal to acquire Santersus AG in an all-stock share exchange. Braskem SA (NYSE:BAK) was down, falling 13% to $1.82 after UBS downgraded the stock from Neutral to Sell and lowered its price target from $4 to $1.5. CommoditiesIn commodity news, oil traded down 3.2% to $102.41 while gold traded up 1.1% at $4,380.20.Silver traded up 1.7% to $64.95 on Wednesday, while copper rose 0.8% to $6.4940.Euro zoneEuropean shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.5%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.3%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.5%, Germany’s DAX gained 0.5%, while France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.5%.Asia Pacific MarketsAsian markets closed higher on Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 0.69%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rising 0.19%, China’s Shanghai Composite rising 0.71% and India’s BSE Sensex gaining 0.45%.Economics The New York Fed’s Services Business Activity Index fell to -8.7 in September from 0.5 in the previous month. U.S. export prices rose 0.6% month-over-month in August, following a 1.4% decline in July and versus market expectations of a 0.5% gain. U.S. import prices rose by 0.7% month-over-month in August, compared to market estimates of a 0.4% increase. U.S. retail sales rose 1.2% month-over-month in August, compared to a revised 0.5% decline in July, and versus market estimates of a 0.8% gain. The volume of mortgage applications declined by 4.1% during the second week of September. The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index declined to 32 in September from 35 in August. U.S. business inventories rose by 0.8% month-over-month in July, following a revised 0.1% gain in the previous month and higher than market estimates of a 0.3% gain. U.S. crude inventories dropped by 0.64 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 11, compared to market estimates of a 1.6 million-barrel decline. Photo via Shutterstock