U.S. markets started Wednesday's session on a positive note, though the gains were nothing to write home about. The Dow Jones inched up 0.05% to 49,485.07, while the NASDAQ showed a bit more enthusiasm with a 0.20% climb to 23,594.64. The S&P 500 split the difference, rising 0.12% to 6,952.97.

Sector Movers

Healthcare stocks were feeling good about life, jumping 1.4% to lead the session. On the other end of the spectrum, materials stocks had a rougher morning, slipping 1% as the sector's worst performer.

UniFirst Stumbles on Mixed Results

UniFirst Corp (UNF) had a rough start to the day, with shares falling around 4% after the company delivered a classic mixed-bag quarter. The uniform rental and workplace supplies company posted adjusted earnings of $1.97 per share, falling short of the $2.06 analyst consensus. The revenue picture looked better though, with quarterly sales hitting $621.318 million compared to expectations of $615.253 million. Apparently beating on the top line wasn't enough to offset the bottom-line miss.

Notable Gainers

Innovative Eyewear Inc (LUCY) had an absolute monster morning, rocketing 57% to $1.86. The catalyst? Preliminary fourth-quarter sales of about $1 million, representing a 45% year-over-year increase.

Ventyx Biosciences Inc (VTYX) surged 34% to $13.47 after The Wall Street Journal reported that Eli Lilly (LLY) is in advanced acquisition talks. The Indianapolis-based pharma giant is reportedly looking at a price tag of more than $1 billion for the deal.

Captivision Inc (CAPT) shares jumped 34% to $0.50 following news that the company secured an extension to regain Nasdaq compliance. Sometimes just staying listed is enough to get the market excited.

Notable Decliners

Cohen & Company Inc (COHN) gave back some of Tuesday's gains, dropping 16% to $25.54 after climbing 12% in the previous session.

Curis Inc (CRIS) fell 21% to $0.79 after announcing a private placement that could bring in up to $80.8 million in gross proceeds. The market wasn't thrilled about the dilution.

Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. (ASTI) declined 18% to $4.32 without any obvious catalyst.

Commodities and Global Markets

The commodity complex had a tough day. Oil slipped 0.7% to $56.72, while gold dropped 0.9% to $4,455.40. Silver got hammered, falling 5.6% to $76.540, and copper declined 2.1% to $5.9365.

European markets were all over the map. The eurozone's STOXX 600 edged down 0.1%, Spain's IBEX 35 fell 0.2%, and London's FTSE 100 dropped 0.7%. Meanwhile, Germany's DAX bucked the trend with a 0.8% gain, and France's CAC 40 rose 0.1%.

Asian markets closed mostly in the red. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.06%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.94%, and India's BSE Sensex slipped 0.12%. China's Shanghai Composite managed a tiny 0.05% gain.

Economic Data

On the economic front, U.S. mortgage applications rose 0.3% from the previous week during the period ending January 2nd, showing modest activity in the housing market.