During trading Wednesday, 1 stock traded to a 52-week high, while 110 stocks bottomed out at new 52-week lows. The S&P 500 is up 0.97% so far today while the Dow is up 0.81%, the Nasdaq is up 1.08%, and the Russell 2000 is up 0.22%.
Stocks are higher Wednesday afternoon. Cryptos are sharply lower. Stocks reversed course after opening lower following Fed Chair Jerome Powell's prepared, Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to Congress.
In the testimony, the Fed Chair did the expected and reiterated his sentiment that the Fed must raise rates to combat inflation. Powell acknowledged that a soft landing is "very challenging" and that a recession is possible. This comment may have eased some worries held by investors as a Fed-induced recession remains a top concern. Further, Powell put policymakers on standby, stating that they must be ready to act "nimbly" to the ever-evolving outlook as returning to 2% annual inflation remains the top priority to avoid high inflation getting entrenched in the economy.
Lastly, Oil & Gas companies are down 3% this afternoon after it was reported that the Biden Administration is considering waiving Federal taxes on gas in what is known as a "tax holiday" and encouraging states to do the same in order to bring down some of the cost of gas to consumers. A tax holiday doesn't bring the price of the commodity down but can reduce the final price per gallon. While the final price per gallon shrinks in the short term, it may not provide long-term price relief. According to a study on recent state-tax holidays on gas that was released by Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania last week, the ending of the tax holiday can send the price higher than it would've been if the holiday was never implemented.
Sector Highlights
The Industrials sector makes up the majority of our 52-week lows, as 34 out of our 110 lows come from the Industrials sector. The Industrials sector is underperforming the market today, increasing 0.1% so far on the day. Over the last month, the Industrials sector has outperformed the market, decreasing 3.09% while the S&P decreased by 3.5%.
Industrials: AIMC, ALLE, AWI, AYI, AZZ, BLD, CMCO, CSX, DOOR, EMR, ETN, GTES, HEES, HLIO, HRI, IBP, IR, KMT, MAS, MMM, MTW, PGTI, REZI, RGR, ROAD, ROK, SRCL, SWBI, SWK, TEX, TGI, TKR, TTC, XPO
The Lists
The following stocks traded to 52-week highs:
The following stocks traded to 52-week lows:
AIMC, ALGN, ALLE, AMWD, ATCO, ATEC, AWI, AYI, AZZ, BHC, BLD, BLMN, CAKE, CBRL, CCK, CFX, CHUY, CLDT, CMCO, CRUS, CSTM, CSX, DD, DIS, DISH, DOOR, DOW, EAT, EMR, ETN, EXP, FBHS, FHB, FR, GBDC, GPS, GTES, HD, HEES, HELE, HGV, HLIO, HLT, HRI, HVT, IBP, IIVI, ILMN, INN
The following ETFs traded to a 52-week low:
