Crude Oil Gains 3%; US Inflation Holds Steady At 2.4%

U.S. stocks traded lower midway through trading, with the Dow Jones falling more than 400 points on Wednesday.

The Dow traded down 0.94% to 47,259.32 while the NASDAQ fell 0.17% to 22,659.35. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 0.35% to 6,757.67.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares rose by 1.4% on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, consumer staples stocks dipped by 1.6%.

Top Headline

U.S. consumer inflation held steady in February, with prices rising at an annual pace consistent with market expectations, according to government data released Wednesday.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.4% year over year, the latest figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed, matching both January’s reading and economists’ esimates.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices increased 0.3%, a modest acceleration from 0.2% in January, but still broadly in line with forecasts.

Equities Trading UP
           

• Commercial Vehicle Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGI) shares shot up 52% to $2.46 after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter sales results. Also, the company issued FY2026 sales guidance above estimates.
• Shares of KALA BIO Inc (NASDAQ:KALA) got a boost, surging 36% to $0.40 after the company announced that its first commercial healthcare AI product will be ready to ship in approximately 14 days.
• Actelis Networks Inc (NASDAQ:ASNS) shares were also up, gaining 47% to $0.55 after the company announced an order from the Japanese government for its MetaLight networking solutions for critical civil and defense infrastructure modernization.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Nauticus Robotics Inc (NASDAQ:KITT) shares dropped 24% to $0.78 after the company announced the issuance of a $1 million convertible note due 2026 at a conversion price of $0.5942 per share.
• Shares of Campbell’s Co (NASDAQ:CPB) were down 9% to $22.55 as the company reported worse-than-expected second-quarter financial results and lowered its FY26 adjusted EPS guidance below estimates.
• Kosmos Energy Ltd (NYSE:KOS) was down, falling 19% to $1.96 after the company announced a $185.25 million offering of 97.5 million shares of common stock at $1.90 per share.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 5.5% to $88.04 while gold traded down 0.9% at $5,193.20.

Silver traded down 4.3% to $85.770 on Wednesday, while copper fell 1.1% to $5.8895.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.45%, while Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 0.18%. London's FTSE 100 fell 0.63%, Germany's DAX fell 0.96% and France's CAC 40 slipped 0.25% during the session.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Wednesday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 gaining 1.43%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index falling 0.24%, China's Shanghai Composite rising 0.25% and India's BSE Sensex dipping 1.72%.

Economics

• The U.S. consumer price index increased by 0.3% from the previous month in February, compared to a 0.2% rise in the prior month and in-line with market expectations.
• The annual inflation rate came in steady at 2.4% in February, unchanged from the prior month.
• The volume of mortgage applications surged by 3.2% from the previous week during the first week of March.
• U.S. crude inventories rose by 3.824 million barrels to 443.1 million in the week ending March 6, compared to market estimates of a 1.1 million-barrel gain. 

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