U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Dow Jones index gaining more than 500 points on Wednesday.

The Dow traded up 1.29% to 39,693.36 while the NASDAQ gained 2.83% to 16,762.22. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 1.85% to 5,385.74.

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Leading and Lagging SectorsConsumer discretionary shares jumped by 5.2% on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, energy shares rose by just 0.2%.

Top Headline

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results and raised its FY25 adjusted EPS guidance above estimates.

The tobacco giant’s revenue increased 5.8% year over year to $9.30 billion, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $9.12 billion. Adjusted EPS of $1.69 beat the consensus estimate of $1.61.

Equities Trading UP                       

• Pony AI Inc. (NASDAQ:PONY) shares shot up 34% to $5.59 after the company showcased its 7th-gen autonomous system and robotaxi fleet.
• Shares of Ensysce Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENSC)got a boost, surging 96% to $3.6301 after the company announced it has received U.S. patent PF9001 for the treatment of opioid use disorder.
• Sonoma Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNOA) shares were also up, gaining 53% to $3.56 after the company announced the registration and launch of new products in the UK.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Charles & Colvard, Ltd. (NASDAQ:CTHR) shares dropped 38% to $0.5078 after the company announced it received a Nasdaq delisting notice.
• Shares of Enphase Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENPH) were down 10% to $48.14 after the company reported worse-than-expected first-quarter financial results. Also, BMO Capital lowered its price target on the stock from $59 to $46.
• Check Point Software Technologies Ltd (NASDAQ:CHKP) was down, falling 6% to $198.55 following first-quarter results.

CommoditiesIn commodity news, oil traded down 3.1% to $62.29 while gold traded down 3.9% at $3,287.70.

Silver traded up 0.8% to $33.180 on Wednesday, while copper fell 0.5% to $4.8535.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 jumped 2.07%, Germany's DAX 40 jumped 3.19% and France's CAC 40 gained 2.62%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 1.29%, while London's FTSE 100 rose 1.19%.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly higher on Wednesday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 surging 1.89%, China's Shanghai Composite falling 0.10%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gaining 2.37% and India's BSE Sensex gaining 0.65%.

Economics

• Sales of new single-family homes in the U.S. jumped by 7.4% to an annualized rate of 724,000.
• The S&P Global services PMI dipped to 51.4 in April from 54.4 in the prior month.
• The S&P Global manufacturing PMI climbed to 50.7 in April from 50.2 in the previous month.
• U.S. crude oil inventories in the increased by 244,000 barrels in the week ended April 18, versus market expectations of a 700,000 barrel decline.

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