- Dow Jones leads gains at Wednesday's close
- Trump's media company adds 14%
- GameStop plunges on quarterly earnings miss
4:08pm: Stocks snap losing streak
The three major stock indexes shook off losses from earlier in the week to finish in positive territory on Wednesday.
The Dow Jones added 1.2% at 39,760 points while the S&P 500 was up 0.9% at 5,248 points and the Nasdaq added 0.5% at 16,399 points.
AI drug discovery firm iBio booked an almost 195% gain for the day after announcing a partnership with AstralBio to develop novel obesity treatments.
Merck also added 5% after its lung disease treatment was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Turning to meme stocks, on its second day of trading former US president Donald Trump’s media company gained 14.2% to close at about $66.
GameStop, on the other hand, saw its shares lose 15.1% at $13 after it reported an earnings miss.
12:25pm: Wall Street continues its mixed start
US stocks have had a mixed day of trading on Wednesday, with the major indexes attempting to break a losing streak which has marred the two sessions this week.
The Dow Jones is up 182 points at 39,464, while the S&P 500 has risen 13 points to 5,216.
The Nasdaq, which has remained lower for much of the morning, has found itself flat at 16,317 points.
Some of the biggest risers today include Cintas, the business services company, after it jumped close to 9% on the back of better-than-expected earnings.
Merck, the pharmaceutical firm, lifted around 4% to an all-time high after it was revealed it had recieved approval for its lung condition treatment Winrevair.
Some 23 other stocks are believed to have reached an all-time high today including Cintas, Royal Caribbean and Boston Scientific.
10.33am: Markets see mixed start to day
The Dow Jones enjoyed strong gains as Wednesday’s opening bell came and went, adding 249 points to reach 39,531.
A mixed start saw the Nasdaq down three points at 16,311 though, while the S&P 500 climbed 14 points to 5,218.
Falls on Tuesday after last week’s brushes with all-time highs had prompted speculation that further upward pressure could be expected on Wednesday morning.
However, Trade Nation analyst David Morrison noted “listless trading is likely to be a feature over the next two days as we wind down ahead of the long Easter weekend”.
Among companies, corporate uniform and facility service provider Cintas Corp soared 10% as the markets opened, after beating estimates with a third-quarter update.
Merck & Co gained almost 4% in the meantime, following FDA approval for its Winrevair treatment for high blood pressure due to constriction of lung arteries on Tuesday.
And finally, Marvell Technology Inc was boosted over 5% as Citigroup analysts placed the firm on a 30-day catalyst watch ahead of its upcoming artificial intelligence event.
08.35am: Markets expected to climb at open
The Dow Jones is due to add 154 points on Wednesday’s opening bell to reach 39,834, following losses on Tuesday which pulled indexes further from all-time highs.
Futures had the S&P 500 and Nasdaq up 19 and 73 points respectively meanwhile, at 5,284 and 18,522.
“A relatively quiet US calendar will likely see traders focus on the ability of equity markets to push through after yesterday’s rebound in durable goods sent stocks lower to the benefit of the US dollar,” Scope Markets analyst Joshua Mahony noted.
This had shown durable goods orders climbing by 1.4% in February following a slump in January, signalling a recovery in business equipment investment.
Given the "short-term period of weakness" since US market’s scraped highs last week, Mahony added previous dips had “typically been viewed as an opportunity to buy”.
“With US markets expected to open in the green, the steady decline seen since Thursday's peak looks like a possible opportunity for the bulls to jump in once again,” he said.