Courtesy of Benzinga.
Wrapping up this FOMC Wednesday trading session, the Dow traded down slightly 0.02 percent to 16,909.20 while the NASDAQ surged 0.57 percent to 4,468.04. The S&P appreciated 0.19 percent to 1,973.79.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Wednesday morning, the healthcare sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from ZELTIQ Aesthetics (NASDAQ: ZLTQ) and Aegerion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AEGR).
Utilities sector was the top decliner in the US market on Wednesday. Top losers in the sector included Huaneng Power International (NYSE: HNP), Companhia de Saneamento Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo (NYSE: SBS), and Empresa Nacional de Electricidad S.A. (NYSE: EOC).
Top Headline
The Federal Reserve FOMC announced it will continue to taper $10B a month, will now purchase $15B/Month in Treasury's and $10B/Month in MBS. The FOMC statement said the housing sector remains slow. 9-1 vote for Fed Funds Rate action.
Sprint (NYSE: S) posted a profit in the latest quarter.
The company posted a quarterly profit of $23 million, or $0.01 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $1.6 billion, or $0.53 per share.
Its sales declined to $8.79 billion from $8.88 billion. Analysts were expecting a loss of $0.02 per share on revenue of $8.75 billion.
Equities Trading UP
ZELTIQ Aesthetics (NASDAQ: ZLTQ) shares shot up 28.60 percent to $21.33 after the company reported upbeat quarterly results and issued a strong FY14 revenue forecast.
Shares of Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) got a boost, shooting up 21.61 percent to $46.93 after the company reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter results and issued an upbeat revenue forecast for the third quarter. Analysts at Bank of America upgraded Twitter from Neutral to Buy.
Inphi (NASDAQ: IPHI) shares were also up, gaining 26.11 percent to $16.14 after the company announced its plans to acquire Cortina Systems.
Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ: MMSI) were down 13.64 percent to $12.75 after the company reported downbeat quarterly results and issued a weak FY14 forecast.
DreamWorks Animation SKG (NASDAQ: DWA) shares tumbled 12.87 percent to $19.74 after the company posted a wider-than-expected loss on revenue below analysts' estimates.
Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) was down, falling 13.56 percent to $144.48 despite the company beating Q2 expectations and raising its 2014 outlook. Wunderlich Securities analyst Robert M. Derrington lowered the price target on the stock from $180.00 to $170.00.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.90 percent to $100.06, while gold traded down 0.21 percent to $1,296.30
Silver traded up 0.06 percent Wednesday to $20.55, while copper rose 0.85 percent to $3.25.
Eurozone
European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.67 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index gained 0.33 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.93 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX declined 0.69 percent and the French CAC 40 dropped 1.33 percent while UK shares fell 0.62 percent.
Economics
The MBA reported that its index of mortgage application activity declined 2.2% in the week ended July 25.
US economy's growth rate surged by 4.0% during the second quarter, versus economists’ expectations for a 3% growth rate.
ADP reported that private sector added 218,000 in July, versus the economists’ expectations for a gain of 232,000.
Posted-In: Earnings News Guidance Eurozone Futures Commodities Hot Intraday Update
