U.S. stocks traded higher toward the end of trading, with the Dow Jones index gaining more than 400 points on Wednesday.

The Dow traded up 0.97% to 44,888.04 while the NASDAQ rose 0.14% to 21,711.19. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.24% to 6,461.26.

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Leading and Lagging SectorsHealth care shares jumped by 1 % on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, utilities stocks fell by 0.7%.

Top Headline

Performance Food Group Company (NYSE:PFGC) reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter adjusted EPS and sales.

The company reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $1.55, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $1.45. Quarterly sales of $16.938 billion outpaced the Street view of $16.860 billion (+11.5% year over year).

Equities Trading UP           

• Bolt Projects Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:BSLK) shares shot up 147% to $5.38 after the company reported a year-over-year increase in second-quarter financial results.
• Shares of Sapiens International Corporation N.V. (NASDAQ:SPNS) got a boost, surging 44% to $42.54 after Advent agreed to acquire the company in a $2.5 billion deal.
• WEBTOON Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ:WBTN) shares were also up, gaining 80% to $16.88 after the company announced a partnership with Disney to bring titles featuring characters from Marvel, Star Wars, Disney Studios and 20th Century Studios to its platform.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Zevra Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZVRA) shares dropped 22% to $9.15 following second-quarter results.
• Shares of KinderCare Learning Companies, Inc.  (NASDAQ:KLC) were down 16% to $8.20 after the company missed second-quarter earnings estimates and narrowed 2025 guidance.
• ProFrac Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:ACDC) was down, falling 39% to $3.8550 after the company priced a $75 million stock offering at $4 per share.

CommoditiesIn commodity news, oil traded down 1% to $62.57 while gold traded up 0.4% at $3,412.90.

Silver traded up 1.4% to $38.545 on Wednesday, while copper fell 0.3% to $4.5115.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 0.52%, while Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 0.95%. London's FTSE 100 rose 0.15%, Germany's DAX 40 gained 0.74% and France's CAC 40 rose 0.73% during the session.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed higher on Wednesday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 gaining 1.30%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gaining 2.58%, China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.48% and India's BSE Sensex gaining 0.38%.

Economics

• The volume of mortgage applications in jumped by 10.9% from the previous week during the first week of August.
• U.S. crude oil inventories climbed by 3.037 million barrels in the week ended Aug. 8, compared to market expectations of a 0.8 million decline.

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