Wednesday morning brought some selling pressure to U.S. equity markets, with the Nasdaq Composite taking the brunt of the decline as tech stocks pulled back.
The Nasdaq fell 0.67% to 23,551.77 following the market open, translating to a drop of more than 100 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.21% to 49,090.31, while the S&P 500 declined 0.47% to 6,931.31.
Bank of America Delivers Strong Quarter
Bank of America Corp (BAC) provided one of the morning's brighter spots, reporting fourth-quarter fiscal 2025 results that topped analyst forecasts. The banking giant posted net income of $7.6 billion, up from $6.80 billion in the same period last year, with earnings per share of 98 cents beating the consensus estimate of 96 cents.
Revenue net of interest expense climbed 7% year-over-year to $28.532 billion, exceeding Wall Street's expectations of $27.944 billion.
Sector Movers
Energy shares led the market higher Wednesday, gaining 0.9% as oil prices advanced. On the flip side, consumer discretionary stocks fell 0.9%, making it the weakest sector of the session.
Notable Stock Movements
Several individual names made dramatic moves. High Roller Technologies, Inc. (ROLR) exploded 322% to $14.65 after announcing a binding Letter of Intent with Crypto.com to launch an event-based prediction markets product in the United States.
Lottery.com Inc (SEGG) surged 87% to $0.96, while Inspire Veterinary Partners Inc (IVP) jumped 99% to $0.046 following a Securities and Exchange Commission filing showing the veterinary services company filed a Certificate of Amendment on Jan. 9, increasing its authorized Class A common stock from 100 million to 700 million shares.
On the downside, Briacell Therapeutics Corp (BCTX) dropped 53% to $5.11 after pricing a $30 million public offering of 5,366,726 units at $5.59 per unit. Plus Therapeutics Inc (PSTV) fell 41% to $0.28 following news of a $15 million public offering of 39.5 million units at $0.38 per unit.
Hub Cyber Security Ltd (HUBC) declined 40% to $0.32 after announcing a 1-for-15 reverse stock split effective January 16.
Commodities Rally
Commodity markets showed broad strength Wednesday. Oil climbed 1% to $61.73, while gold advanced 1% to $4,643.70. Silver was the standout performer, surging 5.8% to $91.365, and copper rose 0.5% to $6.0450.
Global Markets
European markets posted modest gains, with the eurozone's STOXX 600 rising 0.1%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index added 0.4%, London's FTSE 100 gained 0.3%, and France's CAC 40 rose 0.1%. Germany's DAX bucked the trend, falling 0.5%.
Asian markets closed mixed Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei surged 1.48% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.56%, while China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.31% and India's BSE Sensex dropped 0.29%.
Economic Data
The economic calendar brought several notable releases. U.S. retail sales increased 0.6% month-over-month in November, marking the largest surge since July and reversing a revised 0.1% drop in October.
The U.S. current account deficit shrank by 9.2% to $226.4 billion in the third quarter, coming in better than market estimates of a $238 billion gap. Meanwhile, U.S. producer prices increased 0.2% month over month in November following a 0.1% growth in October, matching market expectations.