S&P 500 advances for seventh straight day as traders await key inflation report: Live updates

The iShares MSCI Japan ETF (EWJ) is up more than 1% in morning trading and is on track for its fifth positive day in six. The fund is also on track for its third consecutive weekly gain.

Japan has been a hot country for investors this year, with ETFs focused on the country bringing in about $4 billion so far in 2024, according to FactSet. The BlackRock Investment Institute said in its midyear outlook that an overweight to Japanese stocks was one of its biggest convictions.

— Jesse Pound, Gina Francolla

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has begun his testimony before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee.

Wednesday’s remarks come after Powell told a Senate committee on Tuesday that waiting too long to cut interest rates could hurt the economy. The central bank chief did not specify a timeline for the first cut.

Watch a live stream of Powell’s testimony here.

— Jesse Pound

Shares of Carvana rose more than 6% Wednesday after Needham upgraded the online car seller from “hold” to “buy.” That put the stock on track for its fifth positive session in six.

“We believe CVNA can grow its unit sales and market share by leveraging its digital-first customer experience and underutilized physical footprint,” wrote analyst Chris Pierce. “After a volatile past, we see CVNA emerging as a profitable secular growth story, with increasing retail unit sales and improving gross margin per unit metrics driven by leveraging a high fixed cost base.”

“We believe the consensus estimate for retail units has bottomed and is not yet pricing in the recovery ahead, with upside resulting from management’s explicit pivot to unit growth and optimizations from acquired CVNA IRCs and Adesa sites, or the benefits of a stabilized balance sheet,” the analyst added.

The S&P 500 index opened higher on Wednesday, advancing for the seventh consecutive session.

The overall stock index rose 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite also set its own record with a 0.4% gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hovered near a flat line.

—Brian Evans

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell.

• Tesla — The electric-vehicle maker gained nearly 1% after Goldman Sachs raised its price target to $248 a share from $73 on better-than-expected second-quarter deliveries. Tesla has posted 10 straight days of gains. Although Goldman Sachs raised its price target, the investment bank remains neutral on Tesla, with the new price target implying a decline of about 5% from Tuesday’s close of $262.33.
• Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing — Shares of the company, which makes semiconductor chips for artificial intelligence giants including Nvidia and Apple, rose 2%. Taiwan Semiconductor reported revenue for April-June this year of NT$673.51 billion, compared with NT$654.27 billion expected by analysts polled by LSEG, according to Reuters.
• 3M Company — Shares fell 1.2% after 3M said its chief financial officer, Monish Patolawala, is leaving the company “to pursue another opportunity.” The change will take effect July 31.

Read the full list here.

-Sarah Min

Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor rose 2% Wednesday morning after the company reported better-than-expected recent earnings.

Taiwan Semiconductor reported revenue for April-June this year of T$673.51 billion ($20.67 billion), compared with T$654.27 billion expected by analysts polled by LSEG, according to Reuters. The company posted revenue of T$207.87 billion for June 2024 alone, representing a 32.9% increase from the same period last year.

Taiwan Semiconductor makes semiconductor chips for AI giants including Nvidia and Apple.

—Lisa Kailai Han

Shares of European carmaker Volkswagen fell on Wednesday after the automaker issued a profit warning on weaker demand for electric vehicles. The automaker is also considering closing a plant in Brussels.

Volkswagen’s revised outlook now calls for an operating return on sales of around 6.5% to 7%, down from a previous forecast of 7% to 7.5%.

Volkswagen’s listed European shares fell by around 1 percent.

—Brian Evans

Shares of LegalZoom.com fell more than 23% after the company cut its full-year revenue forecast.

LegalZoom.com’s revenue is now expected to be between $675 million and $685 million. The company had previously forecast $700 million to $720 million. LegalZoom.com also announced that CEO Dan Wernikoff has resigned from his position, effective immediately.

The electric vehicle maker posted a 3.7% gain on Tuesday, marking a 10th consecutive positive session for Tesla.

Since its last down day on June 24, the stock has gained about 43%. Over the past month, the stock is up nearly 48%.

Despite the strong rally, stocks are up a modest 5.6% in 2024, and are still down more than 4% over the past year.

Tesla’s latest gain was helped by the automaker’s second-quarter production and deliveries report released last week. Deliveries for the period came in at 443,956, compared with analysts’ expectations of 439,000, according to StreetAccount.

–Darla Mercado, Jason Gewirtz