Nasdaq Surges Over 200 Points; US Crude Oil Stocks Increase

Health care stocks were lower Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Health Care Index shedding 0.2% and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) decreasing 0.6%.

The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) rose 0.2%.

In corporate news, Applied DNA Sciences shares surged 27% after the company said it was expanding its clinical testing services to include the detection of Mpox Clade I and Clade II.

Renovaro shares dropped 4.2% after it said Wednesday it's offering up to a 20% stake in its cancer-diagnostics unit RenovaroCube to new or existing investors.

BriaCell Therapeutics shares jumped 12% after it reported positive overall survival data in a phase 2 late-stage metastatic breast cancer study evaluating Bria-IMT plus an immune check point inhibitor. Separately, BriaCell said Wednesday it has priced an offering of about 12.3 million shares at $0.69 per share for gross proceeds of about $8.5 million.

U.S. stocks traded mostly lower midway through trading, with the S&P 500 falling around 0.5% on Wednesday.

The Dow traded down 0.94% to 40,352.38 while the NASDAQ rose 0.17% to 17,054.94. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 0.52% to 5,466.77.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares fell by just 0.3% on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, financials shares dipped by 2.4%.

Top Headline

U.S. annual inflation rate eased for a fifth straight month to 2.5% in August from 2.9% in the previous month, and down from market estimates of 2.6%.

Equities Trading UP

• PureCycle Technologies, Inc. shares shot up 32% to $6.18 after the company announced financing transaction and Ironton production update.
• Shares of BriaCell Therapeutics Corp. got a boost, surging 109% to $1.3010 after the company announced overall survival data of its Phase 2 clinical study of Bria-IMT in combination with an immune check point inhibitor in late stage metastatic breast cancer.
• Sigma Lithium Corporation shares were also up, gaining 15% to $10.77 amid a rise in the price of lithium. Chinese company Contemporary Amperex Technology halted production at its lepidolite mine in Yichun, Jiangxi.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Telesis Bio, Inc. shares dropped 58% to $1.58 after the company announced that it has notified the Nasdaq Stock Market of its decision to delist.
• Shares of Rentokil Initial plc were down 21% to $24.85 after the company revised the guidance for the second half of FY24.
• Torrid Holdings Inc. was down, falling 26% to $4.95 after the company announced the launch of secondary offering of common stock.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2.5% to $67.37 while gold traded down 0.4% at $2,533.20.

Silver traded down 0.1% to $28.585 on Wednesday, while copper rose 0.6% to $4.1235.

Euro zone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 0.01%, Germany's DAX gained 0.57% and France's CAC 40 fell 0.21%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 0.62%, while London's FTSE 100 fell 0.20%.

The UK’s trade deficit widened to £7.51 billion in July from £5.32 billion in the previous month, while industrial production fell 0.8% month-over-month in July. The UK's economy stalled during the month of July compared to market estimates of a 0.2% increase.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed lower on Wednesday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 1.49%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index falling 0.73%, China's Shanghai Composite Index dipping 0.82% and India's BSE Sensex falling 0.49%.

The Reuters Tankan sentiment index for manufacturers in Japan declined to a reading of +4 in September compared to August's reading of +10. China’s vehicle sales dipped by 5.0% year-over-year to 2.45 million units for the month of August.

Economics

• U.S. mortgage applications increased 1.4% in the week ending Sept. 6, compared to a 1.6% rise in the prior period.
• U.S. annual inflation rate eased for a fifth straight month to 2.5% in August from 2.9% in the previous month, and down from market estimates of 2.6%.

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On Wednesday, BriaCell Therapeutics stock traded higher with a session volume of 113.08 million, compared to the average volume of 366.19 thousand, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

BriaCell Therapeutics announced overall survival data from its Phase 2 clinical study of Bria-IMT in combination with an immune checkpoint inhibitor (CPI) in late-stage metastatic breast cancer.

The company reported a median overall survival of 15.6 months from its most recent patients (treated since 2022) vs. 6.7-9.3 months for similar patients reported in the literature.

These patients are being treated with the same Bria-IMT formulation currently being used in BriaCell’s ongoing Phase 3 pivotal study in metastatic breast cancer.

This represents a substantial improvement over BriaCell’s 13.4 months median overall survival previously reported in December 2023.

“The Bria-IMT regimen is the only investigational drug we have seen to show these impressive survival numbers in heavily pre-treated metastatic breast cancer patients who have failed numerous prior treatments, including immune checkpoint inhibitors and antibody-drug conjugates,” stated Giuseppe Del Priore, BriaCell’s Chief Medical Officer.”

The Phase 2 study enrolled 54 heavily pre-treated metastatic breast cancer patients (average number of prior treatments = 6) who were treated with the Bria-IMT regimen and an immune checkpoint inhibitor.

Price Action: BCTX stock is up 213.1% at $1.94 at last check Wednesday.

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