4:12pm: Another Nasdaq record
The Nasdaq notched a fresh record Wednesday, lifted by investor enthusiasm towards Oracle and broader AI stocks. The index added 7 points to close at 21,886 points.
The S&P 500 added 0.3% to hit its own record high closing level of 6,532 points. The Dow Jones fell 0.4% to 45,490 points.
3:47pm: Proactive news headlines
- American Resources Corp (NASDAQ:AREC), through its holding in ReElement Technologies, has secured a $20 million equipment leasing facility from Maxus Capital Group.
- Sonoro Gold Corp (TSX-V:SGO, OTCQB:SMOFF) reported that it has completed its previously announced oversubscribed, non-brokered private placement of 13.35 million company units, priced at C$0.15 per unit, raising gross proceeds of C$2 million.
- BioHarvest Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:BHST) announced it has successfully produced plant-based exosomes at scale in its proprietary bioreactors, a development the company says represents a breakthrough in its Botanical Synthesis platform.
- MustGrow Biologics Corp. (TSX-V:MGRO, OTCQB:MGROF) announced that it has secured a $2 million line of credit (LOC) with Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, which is guaranteed by Canada's Export Development Canada (EDC).
2:41pm: Market movers
- Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle, has overtaken Elon Musk as the world’s richest person after Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL, ETR:ORC)’s stock price soared more than 40% on Wednesday as surging cloud demand boosted the software giant’s latest financial results.
- Synopsys Inc (NASDAQ:SNPS, ETR:SYP) shares plummeted after the electronic design automation software and semiconductor silicon intellectual property (IP) firm posted a revenue and profit miss for the fiscal third quarter, as well as issuing cautious guidance.
- Chewy (NYSE: CHWY) shares fell 13% after the provider of pet supplies reported second quarter 2025 earnings per share (EPS) that declined to $0.15 from $0.70 during the same period last year.
- Joby Aviation Inc (NYSE:JOBY) and Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE:UBER, ETR:UT8) announced plans to integrate Blade’s air mobility services into the Uber app starting as soon as 2026, marking the next phase of their collaboration to expand access to urban air travel, sending Joby shares higher.
- GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME) shares climbed after the company reported second-quarter results that comfortably beat Wall Street forecasts.
1:15pm: Musk dethroned as world's richest person
Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle, has overtaken Elon Musk as the world’s richest person after Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL, ETR:ORC)’s stock price soared more than 40% on Wednesday as surging cloud demand boosted the software giant’s latest financial results.
Ellison’s wealth increased by $101 billion to $393 billion on Wednesday, and now exceeds Musk’s net worth of $385 billion, Bloomberg reported.
His increase in wealth is the “biggest one-day increase ever recorded” by the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.
12:32pm: PPI surprise
Wall Street remained mixed in the early afternoon as US producer prices unexpectedly declined.
“US producer prices unexpectedly declined 0.1% month-on-month in August, the first drop in four months, as service costs fell sharply - driven by a 3.9% plunge in machinery and vehicle wholesaling margins - while prices for goods edged up 0.1% on gains in tobacco, meat, and energy products,” IG senior technical analyst Axel Rudolph said.
“Several categories, including chemicals, furniture, food, alcohol, and data processing also saw declines, underscoring broad disinflationary pressures.”
11:05am: Cook to stay, for now
A federal judge has temporarily barred President Donald Trump from removing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, ruling that she can continue serving on the central bank’s board while her legal challenge proceeds.
US District Judge Jia Cobb in Washington issued a preliminary injunction on Tuesday, finding that Trump’s attempt to oust Cook over allegations of mortgage fraud likely violated federal law and her constitutional rights.
The decision allows Cook to remain in her role and participate in the Federal Open Market Committee’s upcoming policy meeting on September 16 to 17, where officials are set to decide whether to lower interest rates.
The Justice Department is expected to appeal Cobb’s ruling, and the case could ultimately reach the US Supreme Court.
9:55am: Mixed start on Wall St
As expected, a mixed open is what we got on Wall Street.
A drop of 0.24% for the Dow Jones is contrasted by a 0.47% rise for the S&P 500, while the Nasdaq Composite is up 0.33%.
The Dow's main losers are Amazon and Apple, both down over 2%, followed by McDonalds and Disney.
Top of the S&P leaderboard is Oracle, up 37%, followed by Broadcom, up 7%.
9.05am: PPI thoughts
The August producer price index was cooler than expected in August due to falling energy prices and discounting by wholesalers and retailers, says Bill Adams, chief economist for Comerica Bank in Dallas.
Total and core PPI were both "considerably cooler" than expected, with lower energy prices holding down inflation, and prices of imported goods rising less than expected.
Wholesalers and retailers discounted in the month, too.
"In short, the effect of tariffs on the PPI has been modest through August," says Adams, noting that factors like lower energy prices and modest domestic demand are "slowing the passthrough of tariff prices to the real economy".
This "suggests tomorrow’s CPI release will also undershoot the market consensus forecast" and "adds further support for the Fed to cut rates at their decision next week".
The CME Fedwatch tool shows markets pricing in nine in ten odds of a quarter percentage point cut and one in ten odds of a half percentage point cut.
8:39am: US producer price inflation eases
Traders have increased their Fed rate cut expectations after US factory gate inflation, though stock futures have dipped slightly.
August producer price inflation fell to 2.6%, below expectations of 3.3%.
Core PPI inflation fell to 2.8%, below expectations of 3.5%.
Month-over-month PPI inflation was negative at -0.1% for the second time since March 2024, with the consensus forecast looking for 0.3% after a rise of 0.9% in July.
8:15am: Dow called lower, S&P and Nasdaq higher
US stock futures were mixed ahead of the opening bell on Wall Street on Wednesday, as investors mulled new tariff moves from the White House and factory gate inflation data.
Dow Jones futures were down 0.15%, while those for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were both up 0.35%.
Yesterday, stocks pushed higher despite downward revisions to labor market data, with the Nasdaq closing up 0.3% at a new record high, while the Dow Jones rose 0.4% and the S&P 500 climbed 0.3%.
Gains in tech were the main driver, including cloud company Nebius that jumped 50% after Microsoft announced a five-year agreement, with CoreWeave, another Microsoft cloud provider, rising 7% on read-across.
Apple shares fell as it unveiled its thinnest iPhone yet, but with no major AI news.
Oracle rocketed 32% in after-hours trading, following a big deal with OpenAI and a jump in quarterly bookings.
Overnight, alongside news that Russian drones had been shot down in Polish airspace, there were reports that Donald Trump was looking to pressure Russia to end the war in Ukraine by ramping up sanctions.
He has asked the EU to hit China and India with 100% tariffs.
US officials said Washington was prepared to act as long as the EU "mirrors" tariffs on China and India, according to reports from the Financial Times and Bloomberg.
President Trump made the demand on a phone link to a meeting being held between senior US and EU officials in Washington.
"The president came on this morning and his view is that the obvious approach here is, let’s all put on dramatic tariffs and keep the tariffs on until the Chinese agree to stop buying the oil. There really aren’t many other places that oil can go," one US official told the FT.
The main economic data in today’s session will be producer price inflation, which offers a precursor to tomorrow’s CPI release.
"Last month’s PPI print at 0.9% surprised to the upside, stoking concerns around growing price pressures that producers will ultimately pass on to the consumer," said market analyst Joshua Mahonyh at Rostro.
"Another hot reading today could temper expectations for aggressive Fed easing, while a cooler number would bolster hopes for policy flexibility.
"With markets finely poised ahead of tomorrow’s inflation test, today’s release is set to play a crucial role in shaping sentiment into the end of the week."