The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained approximately 150 points on Wednesday, closing at 52,658.64, following the release of producer inflation data that showed a larger-than-expected drop in prices. The market sentiment improved, with the CNN Money Fear and Greed Index moving to 46.3, remaining in the "Neutral" zone compared to a prior reading of 45.4. The S&P 500 rose 0.38% to 7,572.40, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.62% to 26,269.23.

Producer Price Inflation Declines

Headline producer prices dropped 0.3% in June, versus expectations for no change. The annual rate cooled to 5.5% from 6.2%, while core PPI rose a smaller-than-expected 0.2%. This print echoed Tuesday’s soft CPI report and further trimmed the risk that the Federal Reserve raises rates at its upcoming meeting.

Market Movers and Sector Performance

Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc. gained around 3% each, while Apple surged to a new all-time high. On the earnings front, Aehr Test Systems Inc. shares jumped 22% after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results and issued FY27 sales guidance above estimates. Morgan Stanley reported upbeat earnings for the second quarter. Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with consumer discretionary, financial, and communication services stocks recording the biggest gains. Utilities and energy stocks bucked the overall market trend, closing lower.

Upcoming Earnings

Investors are awaiting earnings results from UnitedHealth Group Inc., Abbott Laboratories, and GE Aerospace today.

Fear & Greed Index Details

The Fear & Greed Index is a measure of current market sentiment, calculated based on seven equal-weighted indicators. It ranges from 0 to 100, where 0 represents maximum fear and 100 signals maximum greediness.

U.S. stocks were higher on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones index gaining around 100 points. AEVEX Corp shares rose sharply after the company secured a $50 million U.S. Air Force contract to expand unmanned mission-support capabilities. The contract includes $27 million in initial funding and supports continued production of AEVEX’s long-range precision strike platform. Consequently, AEVEX shares jumped 11.8% to $20.07 on Tuesday.

Other Notable Movers

Abivax SA shares jumped 34.2% to $129.00 after the company announced topline results from ABTECT Maintenance Part 2. Additionally, BTIG maintained a Buy rating on the stock and raised its price target from $150 to $175.

AeroVironment Inc gained 20.4% to $167.34 after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results. Unusual Machines Inc surged 11.1% to $21.37 in sympathy with AeroVironment Inc after the drone and defense technology company reported a fiscal fourth-quarter double beat.

Air Products and Chemicals Inc gained 8.6% to $294.67 after the company announced it will not proceed with the Louisiana Clean Energy Complex project. The company also announced it is finalizing its marketing and distribution agreement with Yara for renewable ammonia from the NEOM Green Hydrogen Project.

Watts Water Technologies Inc gained 6.2% to $381.18 after Barclays analyst William Grippin upgraded the stock from Equal-Weight to Overweight and raised the price target from $317 to $414. Tradeweb Markets Inc rose 6.2% to $97.82 after Goldman Sachs analyst Alexander Blostein upgraded the stock from Neutral to Buy and raised the price target from $128 to $146.