WIT News & Events

The major averages had a tepid session, all closing fractionally lower, with the S&P 500 nearing the 7,000 mark and the Dow remaining close to the 50,000 level. Bank earnings kicked off with a mixed week, and strength in semiconductors hasn't completely pushed back concerns around mixed macro signals.Looking to commodities, oil prices eased after the chance of a U.S. strike on Iran receded, tempering energy sector pressure, while gold dipped on stronger U.S. data boosting the dollar and reducing near-term rate-cut bets.Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists.1. STOCK NEWS:Vistraand Constellation Energywere slipping after the White House reached an agreement with a number of U.S. states to curb electricity costs,PNC Financialreportedand provided guidance for Q1 and FY26Regions Financialreported downbeat, with Wells Fargo downgrading the stockJ.B. Huntreported, saying the "freight market feels fragile" entering 2026Drugmakers are concerned about legal risk with the FDA's expedited review program,2. WALL STREET CALLS:BioNTechto Buy at Goldman Sachs on cancer potentialSusquehannaSeagateto Neutral on HDD industry growthKraft Heinzto Underweight at Morgan StanleyTractor Supplyto Hold at TruistHP Inc.to Underweight at Barclays3. AROUND THE WEB:The U.S. Supreme Court will hear Bayer'sappeal of Roundup lawsuitst, Bloomberg reportsBeyond Meatis testing a line of protein drinks, WSJ reportsThe European Patent Office appeals board has revoked one of Arbutus Biopharma'spatents, which is likely to affect its case against Modernain Switzerland and one Unified Patent Court case, Bloomberg saysAlibabaplans to link its online shopping and travel services to its AI app, Qwen, to build it into a one-stop artificial intelligence platform for consumers, Bloomberg saysThe proposed merger between Rio Tintoand Glencoremay require asset sales to win approval from China, which has concerns about resource security and market concentration, Reuters says4. MOVERS:ImmunityBiohigher after announcingfrom its ongoing QUILT-206 studyAST SpaceMobileincreases after beingby Missile Defense AgencyRiot Platformsgains after announcing a land acquisition andwith AMDSasollower after in New York JPMorganthe stock to UnderweightEndeavour Silverfalls in New York after providing5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCEOndasprovidedand raised its outlook for FY26WaFd, with revenue missing consensusWipro, with CEO Srini Pallia commenting, "In Q3, we delivered broad based growth in line with our expectations"QXOreportedState Street, with EPS and revenue beating consensusINDEXES:The Dow fell 83.11, or 0.17%, to 49,359.33, the Nasdaq lost 14.63, or 0.062%, to 23,515.39, and the S&P 500 declined 4.46, or 0.064%, to 6,940.01.

The major averages were mostly unchanged near noon following yesterday's rally as the S&P 500 reaches for 7,000. Bank earnings have had a mixed week, and strength in semiconductors hasn't completely pushed back concerns around mixed macro signals.Looking to commodities, oil prices have eased after the chance of a U.S. strike on Iran receded, tempering energy sector pressure, while gold dipped on stronger U.S. data boosting the dollar and reducing near-term rate-cut bets.Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists.1. STOCK NEWS:Vistraand Constellation Energywere slipping after the White House reached an agreement with a number of U.S. states to curb electricity costs,PNC Financialreportedand provided guidance for Q1 and FY26Regions Financialreported, with Wells Fargo downgrading the stockJ.B. Huntreported, saying the "freight market feels fragile" entering 2026Drugmakers are concerned about legal risk with the FDA's expedited review program,2. WALL STREET CALLS:BioNTechto Buy at Goldman Sachs on cancer potentialSusquehannaSeagateto Neutral on HDD industry growthKraft Heinzto Underweight at Morgan StanleyTractor Supplyto Hold at TruistHP Inc.to Underweight at Barclays3. AROUND THE WEB:The European Patent Office appeals board has revoked one of Arbutus Biopharma'spatents, which is likely to affect its case against Modernain Switzerland and one Unified Patent Court case, Bloomberg saysHersheyhas increased its marketing budget for the Hershey's brand by 20% to launch its first new advertising campaign in eight years, with the new strategy including influencer campaigns on TikTok and live events, WSJ reportsAlibabaplans to link its online shopping and travel services to its AI app, Qwen, to build it into a one-stop artificial intelligence platform for consumers, Bloomberg saysThe BBC plans to produce programs for Google'sYouTube for the first time, FT reportsThe proposed merger between Rio Tintoand Glencoremay require asset sales to win approval from China, which has concerns about resource security and market concentration, Reuters says4. MOVERS:ImmunityBiohigher after announcingfrom its ongoing QUILT-206 studyAST SpaceMobileincreases after beingby Missile Defense AgencyRiot Platformsgains after announcing a land acquisition and data center(AMD)Sasollower after in New York JPMorganthe stock to UnderweightEndeavour Silverfalls in New York after5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCEOndasand raised its outlook for FY26WaFd, with revenue missing consensusWipro, with CEO Srini Pallia commenting, "In Q3, we delivered broad based growth in line with our expectations"QXOState Street, with EPS and revenue beating consensusINDEXES:Near midday, the Dow was down 0.05%, or 22.82, to 49,419.62, the Nasdaq was up 0.12%, or 27.82, to 23,557.84, and the S&P 500 was up 0.11%, or 7.64, to 6,952.11.

Aparna Iyer, Chief Financial Officer, said "Our IT services operating margins at 17.6% expanded both sequentially and on a year-on-year basis. This is our best margin performance in last few years. Our continued focus on execution rigour also reflects in our strong operating cash flow of 135% of net income in Q3. We are also pleased to share that the Board has declared an interim dividend of INR 6 per share which will take the total payout for the year to $1.3B."