U.S. Stocks Decline as Nasdaq Falls 2% and Crude Oil Inventories Rise

U.S. stocks experienced a downturn towards the end of trading on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 index dropping over 1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 1.32% to close at 42,358.19, while the NASDAQ Composite decreased by 2.06% to 18,190.21. The S&P 500 also saw a decline, falling 1.33% to 5,773.33.

Sector Performance

Despite the overall drop in the markets, real estate shares managed to rise by 0.7% on Wednesday. However, technology stocks faced challenges, with information technology shares declining by 2.1% during the trading session.

Oil Inventory Data

A key headline for the day was the increase in U.S. crude oil inventories, which rose by 5.474 million barrels in the week ending October 18. This figure was significantly higher than market expectations, which had forecasted a gain of only 0.7 million barrels.

Stock Movements

Notable Gainers:

• La Rosa Holdings Corp. LRHC shares surged by 165%, reaching $1.3000, following a report of a 120% year-over-year growth in preliminary revenue.
• CNS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. CNSP shares increased by 73% to $0.2704 after the company announced a requested hearing panel for November 5, 2024.
• Virax Biolabs Group Limited VRAX shares rose by 57% to $2.6399, attributed to a new distribution agreement with Europa Biosite.

Notable Decliners:

• Alto Neuroscience, Inc. ANRO shares dropped by 67% to $4.7398 after disappointing results from a clinical trial.
• Constellium SE CSTM shares fell 29% to $10.59 after missing earnings and sales estimates.
• Enphase Energy, Inc. ENPH saw a significant decline of 15%, closing at $78.67, following worse-than-expected quarterly financial results.

Commodity Market Update

In the commodities market, oil prices decreased by 1.7% to $70.54 per barrel. Gold prices also fell by 1%, settling at $2,732.70. Silver dropped by 3.4%, closing at $33.835, while copper declined by 1%, ending at $4.3350.

Global Market Overview

European stock markets mostly experienced losses. The euro zone's STOXX 600 index decreased by 0.30%, Germany's DAX saw a fall of 0.23%, and France's CAC 40 dropped by 0.50%. However, Spain's IBEX 35 Index managed to rise by 0.27%, while London's FTSE 100 fell by 0.58%. Consumer confidence in the Eurozone reported a rise of 0.4 points to a reading of -12.5 in October.

In Asia, markets had mixed results. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell by 0.80%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 1.27%. China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.52%, and India's BSE Sensex dipped slightly by 0.17%. Singapore's inflation rate eased to 2.0% in September, down from 2.2% in August.

Economic Indicators

• U.S. mortgage applications fell by 6.7% from the previous week during the third week of October, following a 17% decrease earlier.
• Existing home sales in the U.S. decreased by 1% in September, reaching an annualized rate of 3.84 million.

Overall, the day was marked by significant declines in major stock indices and notable decreases in various stocks, particularly in the technology and energy sectors.

Stocks, Market, Energy