US stocks closed higher on Wednesday, recouping some of the losses from the previous session. The S&P 500 rose by 0.50%, the Dow Jones added 337 points to hit a new record high, and the Nasdaq 100 saw a slight increase. Utilities and financials led the gains, while communication services and consumer staples underperformed. Investors remain focused on corporate earnings, with Morgan Stanley surging 6.50% after surpassing expectations for both earnings and revenue. Trading Economics added that “Abbott gained 1.5% on stronger-than-expected quarterly results. Meanwhile, Intel lost 1.5% after the Chinese cyber association called for a review of Intel products sold in China. Investors now await earnings from Netflix, Blackstone and Intuitive Surgical, among others, as well as the latest weekly jobless claims, retail sales and industrial production data,”

European stocks ended lower, building on the losses from the previous session due to disappointing earnings from some of the Eurozone's biggest companies. The STOXX 50 dropped 0.70%, while the broader STOXX 600 saw a milder decline of 0.20%, with the latter benefiting from positive inflation data in the UK. Trading Economics reported that “ASML sank 5.1% to extend the prior session’s 15.6% plunge after the chipmaker issued a disappointing sales forecast following its third-quarter earnings report. Additionally, LVMH dropped by 3.7% after posting a decline in revenues during the third quarter, its first negative change since the Covid-19 pandemic, underscoring the concerns of lower demand in China. Consequently, Hermes and Kering dropped 1.3% and 0.8%, respectively, and L’Oreal lost more than 2% on a downgrade from JPMorgan.”

Chinese stocks traded in mixed fashion on Wednesday, with mainland stocks struggling to find direction as investors anticipated a government briefing scheduled for later today to address challenges in the troubled property sector. Additionally, attention is now on upcoming key economic data, including GDP, retail sales, and industrial production figures. Chinese markets faced pressure this week, as the country’s fiscal stimulus measures failed to ease concerns about the slowing economy. For the day, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.05% to close at 3 203 while the Shenzhen Component dropped 1.01% to 9 965 points.

The local bourse climbed 0.50% to close at 86 393 points on Wednesday, recovering from the prior day's losses, with resource-linked stocks providing support. Investors kept a close watch on the US earnings season and awaited key economic data from the world's two largest economies later in the week. In local economic news, Trading Economics reported that local retail sales increased by 3.20% year-on-year in August 2024, following a downwardly revised 1.70% rise in the previous month, marking the sixth consecutive month of growth. At 18h30, the rand was slightly changed at R17.64/$ and R19.17/€, while it had risen 0.50% to R22.92/£.

Business Day reported that in commodities, bullion gained 0.28% to trade at $2 669.85/oz and platinum 0.61% to trade at $991.71/oz. Brent crude was 0.47% weaker at $74.04 a barrel at the close of local business. “API data showed that US crude stocks fell by 1.6 million barrels last week, following an almost 11-million-barrel build and defying forecasts of a 2.3-million-barrel increase,” Reuters added.