4 Mins Ago
Economic activity, inflation flat since late November, Fed report notes
Economic activity over the past seven weeks has been largely stagnant, with both hiring and prices rising at a “modest to moderate” pace, according to the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book report released Wednesday.
The summary of conditions across the Fed’s 12 districts found economic activity to be “relatively unchanged” since the last report on Nov. 29, 2023. From a sector standpoint, housing weakened as did the demand for mortgages amid elevated interest rates.
Companies reported that inflation weighed on consumer activity and noted difficulty in pricing power. Still, they said noted that wage pressures “remain elevated.”
—Jeff Cox
41 Mins Ago
Insurance stocks hit new highs
Major insurance stocks were among the names trading at new highs on Wednesday.
Allstate, Chubb, Travelers and Progressive all hit new intraday all-time highs on Wednesday morning. Hilton and Visa also hit all-time highs, while Domino’s Pizza was trading at its highest point since March 2022.
Some other names hitting new highs include:
- CBOE Holdings trading at all-time high levels back to its IPO in June, 2010
- Fiserv trading at all-time high levels since its IPO in Sep, 1986
- Loews trading at all-time highs back through our history to 1972
Meanwhile, Archer-Daniels-Midland, Exxon Mobil and Pinnacle West Capital were all trading at their lowest level since 2022, while Devon Energy hit its lowest point since 2021.
— Jesse Pound, Christopher Hayes
An Hour Ago
Stocks making the biggest midday moves: Instacart, Spirit Airlines and more
These are the stocks moving the most in midday trading:
- Spirit Airlines, JetBlue Airways — The airline stocks respectively slid 22% and 8% a day after a federal judge blocked JetBlue’s proposed $3.8 billion acquisition of Spirit.
- Instacart — Shares of the food delivery service popped 8% on Wednesday after Wolfe Research upgraded shares to outperform from peer perform.
- Marathon Digital — The crypto mining firm slid 3% during Wednesday’s trading session. Earlier in the morning, the company received an upgrade to buy from BTIG.
Read the full list of stocks moving here.
— Lisa Kailai Han
An Hour Ago
Oil falls after China economic growth disappoints
Oil prices fell on Wednesday after economic growth in China missed expectations.
The West Texas Intermediate futures contract for February declined 54 cents, or .75%, to trade at $71.86 a barrel. The Brent futures contract for March lost 97 cents, or 1.24%, to trade at $77.32 a barrel.
China’s gross domestic product grew by 5.2% in the fourth quarter compared to the year prior, falling short of 5.3% growth forecast in a Reuters poll. Slower economic growth in China is raising concerns about oil demand in the world’s second-largest economy.
Worries about China’s economy combined with historic levels of oil production in the U.S. continue remain the main focus of investors, largely overshadowing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
— Spencer Kimball
An Hour Ago
Major indexes slide in 2024 after strong finish to last year
The new year hasn’t been so hot for stocks.
With 10 sessions completed in 2024’s trading year, the three major indexes are on pace for losses. The Dow and S&P 500 have slid 0.9% and 0.5%, respectively, since 2024 began, while the Nasdaq Composite has dropped 1.3%.
That marks a turn from the rally seen into the end of 2023. The Dow and S&P 500 finished last year up by more than 13% and 24%, respectively. The technology-heavy Nasdaq soared more than 43%.
See Chart…
The three major indexes since the start of 2023
2 Hours Ago
BTIG’s Krinsky says keep an eye on Apple and Nvidia
Keep an eye on technology juggernauts Apple and Nvidia, according to BTIG’s Jonathan Krinsky.
“The two most important names to watch right now are probably Apple (AAPL, Not Rated), which is testing its 200 DMA (180.90) for the second time in a few weeks, and Nvidia (NVDA, Not Rated), which was up ~18% over the last 8…
This article was originally published by a www.cnbc.com . Read the Original article here. .