Crude Oil Down 4%; Paychex Posts Upbeat Earnings

U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Dow Jones index gaining more than 400 points on Wednesday.

The Dow traded up 0.83% to 52,095.25 while the NASDAQ surged 0.27% to 25,654.95. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.35% to 7,391.51.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Health care shares jumped by 1.5% on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, energy stocks fell by 1.7%.

Top Headline

Paychex Inc (NASDAQ:PAYX) reported better-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter.

The company posted quarterly earnings of $1.32 per share which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.30 per share. The company reported quarterly sales of $1.606 billion which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.601 billion.

Equities Trading UP
           

• Pulsenmore Ltd (NASDAQ:PLSM) shares shot up 199% to $10.18 after the company announced a strategic partnership with Ouma Health to expand access to remote prenatal care in the U.S.
• Shares of Fort Technology Inc (NASDAQ:FRTT) got a boost, surging 64% to $2.90 after the company announced it signed a non-binding letter of intent for a proposed strategic investment and partnership with Logia USA. Fort proposed to acquire 50.1% of Logia USA.
• Catheter Precision Inc (NYSE:VTAK) shares were also up, gaining 63% to $1.54 as investors cheered the firm’s partnership with sports and entertainment agency GSE Worldwide and a batch of newly allowed patents covering its heart failure and vascular closure technologies.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Nuwellis Inc (NASDAQ:NUWE) shares dropped 26% to $0.094 after the company announced a 1-for-35 reverse stock split.
• Shares of TOYO Co., Ltd (NASDAQ:TOYO) were down 33% to $8.62 after the company announced a $50 million offering of common shares and warrants at $11 per share and warrant.
• Hertz Global Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:HTZ) was down, falling 25% to $3.78 after the company announced a $100 million offering.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 4.2% to $70.14 while gold traded down 2.8% at $4,032.40.

Silver traded down 4.8% to $59.075 on Wednesday, while copper fell 2.6% to $5.9890.

Euro zone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.2%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.7%. London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.1%, Germany’s DAX dipped 1.1%, while France’s CAC 40 gained 0.3%.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly higher on Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 dipping 0.88%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gaining 0.33%, China’s Shanghai Composite rising 0.11% and India’s BSE Sensex gaining 1.04%.

Economics

• The U.S. current account deficit rose to $226.8 billion in the first quarter from a revised $221.1 billion gap in the final quarter of 2025.
• U.S. building permits fell 0.9% month-over-month to an annual rate of 1.410 million in June.
• U.S. mortgage applications rose by 1% in the third week of June compared to a 3.8% decline in the previous period.

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