04:03 PM EDT, 06/26/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes ended in the green Wednesday despite a report that showed new home sales fell in May.

* New-home sales slowed to a 619,000 annual rate in May from an upwardly revised 698,000 annual rate in April, below 633,000 expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg and down 16.5% from the level in May 2023. Home supply rose by 1.5% from April and was up 12.9% from a year earlier, while home prices moved lower over the same period.

* The Mortgage Bankers Association reported a 0.8% gain in mortgage applications in the week ended June 21 after a 0.9% increase in the previous week. Refinancing activity was essentially flat while new home applications improved due to a downtick in mortgage rates.

* August West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell $0.17 to $80.66 per barrel, while August Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen down $0.04 at $84.97 as a report showed total crude oil inventories rose by 4.9 million barrels in the week ended June 21, with commercial oil inventories up 3.6 million barrels and stocks in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve up 1.3 million barrels.

* FedEx ( FDX ) shares jumped nearly 16% after the parcel delivery company provided upbeat earnings guidance for fiscal 2025 as ongoing cost-reduction efforts helped it top market expectations in the fourth quarter.

* Moderna ( MRNA ) fell 11% after the company said its mRESVIA respiratory syncytial virus vaccine demonstrated about a 50% efficacy after 18 months, based on data from a phase 2/3 trial.