U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining around 150 points on Wednesday.

The Dow traded up 0.59% to 39,790.88 while the NASDAQ rose 0.93% to 16,665.13. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.80% to 5,288.72.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares rose by 1.5% on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares fell by 0.8%.

Top Headline

U.S. retail sales came in unchanged month-over-month in April compared to a revised 0.6% increase in March.

Equities Trading UP

OptimizeRx Corporation ( OPRX ) shares shot up 25% to $13.12 following upbeat quarterly results.

Shares of Edible Garden AG Incorporated ( EDBL ) got a boost, surging 31% to $5.60 following first-quarter results.

iPower Inc ( IPW ). shares were also up, gaining 37% to $1.22 after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter financial results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Virpax Pharmaceuticals, Inc ( VRPX ). shares dropped 63% to $0.83 after the company reported pricing of $2.25m public offering.

Shares of Pixelworks, Inc ( PXLW ). were down 40% to $1.1150 after the company issued soft second-quarter guidance.

Aethlon Medical, Inc ( AEMD ). was down, falling 47% to $0.45 after the company announced pricing of $4.7 million public offering.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.7% to $77.47 while gold traded up 0.7% at $2,375.50.

Silver traded up 1.8% to $29.22 on Wednesday, while copper fell 0.1% to $4.8895.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 0.44%, Germany's DAX rose 0.68% and France's CAC 40 rose 0.01%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 0.98%, while London's FTSE 100 rose 0.08%.

Industrial production in the Eurozone increased by 0.6% month-over-month in March compared to a revised 1% gain in the previous month. The Eurozone economy grew by 0.3% on quarter during the first three months, compared to a 0.1% decline in the prior quarter.

The annual inflation rate in France fell to 2.2% in April from 2.3% in March.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday, with Japan's Nikkei gaining 0.08%, China's Composite Index falling 0.82%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index falling 0.22% and India's S&P BSE Sensex falling 0.22%.

Total passenger vehicle sales in India rose 1.2% year-over-year to 287,746 in April compared to an 8.9% rise in the prior month. The People’s Bank of China kept the interest rate unchanged at 2.50%.

Economics

Mortgage applications in the US rose 0.5% from the prior week in the period ending May 10.

U.S. consumer prices rose 0.3% month-over-month in April compared to 0.4% in the previous month, and also down from market expectations of 0.4%.

Annual inflation rate in the U.S. slowed to 3.4% in April from 3.5% a month ago.

U.S. retail sales came in unchanged month-over-month in April compared to a revised 0.6% increase in March.

The NY Empire State Manufacturing Index declined to -15.6 in May compared to -14.3 in the prior month, and versus market estimates of -10.0.

Total business inventories declined by 0.1% month-over-month in March compared to a revised 0.3% gain in February.

The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index declined to 45.0 in May, recording the lowest level in four months.

Crude oil inventories in the U.S. declined by 2.508 million barrels in the week ending May 10, compared to a 1.362 million gain in the prior period.

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