Stocks declined on Wednesday as more companies reported earnings, while the conflict in Gaza escalated. Morgan Stanley's stock dropped due to a decrease in quarterly net income, while Procter & Gamble's shares rose on the back of higher quarterly profits from price hikes. Tesla and Netflix remained in the lead after the market closed.

A tragic explosion at a Gaza hospital heightened concerns of a broader regional conflict, leading to the cancellation of a summit between Arab leaders and President Biden, diminishing prospects for an immediate diplomatic resolution.

New Chinese data presented a mixed economic picture, with growth slowing in the last quarter, but stronger-than-expected retail sales in September. Oil prices also rose, with Brent crude climbing over 1% to approximately $91 a barrel, driven by worries about the Israel-Hamas conflict and optimism for increased Chinese demand.

At 11:50 AM ET, the Dow was down -180.8672 points, or -0.532%, at $33816.78. The Nasdaq Composite lost -104.5322 points, or -0.6913%, at $15017.4795. The S&P 500 declined -33.6704 points, or -0.7699%, at $4339.53. Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, 8 showed negative movement, with Materials leading the way with a -1.2% decrease.

Top Movers: Under $10

SeaStar Medical Holding Corp (ICU) is up 49.98% today to trade at the current level of $0.68. This comes after the receipt of FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for its patented, first-in-class, cell-directed Selective Cytopheretic Device (SCD) for use with patients in the hospital intensive care unit (ICU) with acute kidney injury (AKI) and acute on chronic liver failure.

Treasure Global Inc (TGL) zoomed 28.14% in today’s trade to $0.40 with their introduction of an AI robot for extended-hour live commerce sessions on TikTok, transforming the e-commerce landscape.

In current trading, Ardelyx Inc (ARDX) stock is at $4.04 following news that the FDA approved Ardelyx's CKD drug for high phosphate levels, overcoming a previous rejection over two years ago.

Baudax Bio Inc (BXRX) rose 11.50% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $0.22 as the company gears up to develop TI-168 for Hemophilia A patients with FVIII inhibitors after securing shareholder approval for its TeraImmune acquisition.

In the current trading session, Genetic Technologies Ltd. ADR (GENE) jumped 9.59% to $0.75 over a previous close of $0.68 on the publication of a peer-reviewed research paper confirming the validity of geneType's Pancreatic Cancer risk assessment test.

Ex-Dividends Stocks

Franklin Street Properties Corp. (FSP) is about to trade ex-dividend tomorrow, meaning that investors who buy the stock after tomorrow will not be eligible for the next dividend payment. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.01 per share. The company has fixed October 20 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on November 09. Last year, the company distributed a total of $0.04 to its shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, FSP has a trailing yield of 2.31% on the current stock price of $1.74.

Another stock that is shelling out dividends tomorrow is Gladstone Investment Corporation (GAIN), having a market capitalization of $433.70M. It will pay a dividend of $0.08 per share, the payment date of which is October 31. Currently, the stock is trading at a trailing dividend yield of 7.50%.

Shares of Patterson Companies Inc. (PDCO) will be the talk of stock market on Thursday as the stock will turn ex-dividend. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.26 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of $1.07 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that PDCO has a trailing yield of 3.44% on the current share price of $31.02.

Grindrod Shipping Holdings Ltd (GRIN) is also set to go ex-dividend tomorrow. The next dividend payment from GRIN will amount to $0.12 per share. October 20 has been designated as the record date for this dividend. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for GRIN stands at 1.05% based on the current stock price of $14.00.

Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) will be paying out a dividend of $0.94 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of the business hours on the record date of October 20. Over the past 12 months, PG has paid out a total of $3.84 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, PG boasts an impressive trailing yield of 2.58% on the current share price of $149.00.

Crypto Market Highlights

Most Shorted Stocks

Anavex Life Sciences Corporation (AVXL) was one of the most shorted stocks as of latest short interest figures, with 21.93% short interest. The days to cover ratio, a measure of how long it would take for all the short positions to be covered based on average trading volume, is 21.8. This represents a change of 880000 shares, which corresponds to a +5.15% increase in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $103.87 million. The average daily volume stands at 830.40K shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $473.67M.

The Viridian Therapeutics Inc with the symbol VRDN currently has a short interest of 21.62%. The short interest has changed by 100000 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 13.4. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $111.96 million. On an average day, 638.37K shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $518.14M.

For the stock TG Therapeutics Inc (TGTX), the current short interest is at 23.72%. This represents a significant short interest change of 3000000 shares, corresponding to a short interest percentage increase of +10.17%. The days needed to cover the short positions amount to 6.5. The approximate worth of the shares held short is $216.52 million.

The stock PLUG has a current short interest of 23.85%. The short interest percentage has experienced decrease of -4.45% while there was a change of -5950000 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 6.2. Trading activity averages at 20.54M shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $4.35B.

AI Stocks to Watch

According to our ST Score evaluation, Shutterstock Inc (SSTK) emerges as a high-quality stock in the AI industry, attaining an impressive score of 56.0. The stock's profitability, stock sentiment, and Piotroski Score are strong. However, its growth, and financial strength are weak. Additionally, it is neutral in terms of value, performance, and forecast.

Our ST Score also classifies Alphabet Inc (GOOGL) as a high-quality AI stock today, presenting a Score of 54.0. The stock has strong fundamentals in terms of profitability, and Piotroski Score. However, it has weak value. The performance, growth, financial strength, stock sentiment, and forecast are neutral.

Another stock in the category, UiPath Inc (PATH) has the ST Score of 52.0, which means that the stock carries the potential for higher returns. The stock is strong in financial strength but weak in value, and profitability. Performance, growth, stock sentiment, piotroski score, and forecast suggest a neutral outlook.

Crowdstrike Holdings Inc (CRWD) stock has the ST Score of 53.0 which implies that the AI company has a high probability of beating the market. The stock's strengths lie in its profitability, growth, and stock sentiment, but its weaknesses are in its value. However, it shows neutral outlook in performance, financial strength, Piotroski Score, and forecast.

Verisk Analytics Inc (VRSK) currently has the ST Score of 50.0, which signifies a huge upward potential. The AI stock's strong points are its profitability, and Piotroski Score, while its weak points are its value, and financial strength. The stock's performance, growth, stock sentiment, and forecast indicate a neutral outlook.