Palantir, Shiba Inu, Apple, American Airlines: What to Watch in the Stock Market Today

Stocks dropped after the opening bell, with technology shares leading losses as bond yields extended rises. Here’s what we’re watching as Wednesday’s trading heats up.

• Palantir Technologies PLTR 3.88% jumped 7% in early trading. The data-software company said it was selected for a U.S. Army intelligence program contract.
• Facebook FB -1.90% shares ticked 1.1% lower after the company spent a day in the headlines amid a whistleblower’s testimony on Capitol Hill and a widespread outage of its services.
• But the downdraft in major tech shares was hitting most of the giants. Microsoft MSFT -0.48% slipped 0.8% , Apple AAPL -0.95% shed 1.4%, Google-parent Alphabet GOOG -0.51% fell 0.8% and Netflix NFLX -0.83% gave up 0.4%.

• Cryptocurrencies turbo-charged by Tesla CEO Elon Musk got another boost Wednesday. The token Shiba Inu gained 48% over the previous 24 hours, adding to a days-long rally after Mr. Musk posted a new photo of his Shiba Inu puppy named Floki on Monday. The coin now has a market value of $9 billion, making it the twentieth largest cryptocurrency, according to CoinMarketCap.com. Dogecoin, a favorite of Mr. Musk’s, also rose 3% over the previous 24 hours.

• Shares of American Airlines Group AAL -4.54% lost 2.5% and Delta Air Lines DAL -2.73% shed 1.7%, weighed down by concerns about fuel costs and a slowing economic growth.
• Acuity Brands AYI 12.67% soared 13% after the industrial-technology company said its profit for the fiscal fourth quarter rose as sales benefited from improved service levels and an improving economy.
• Vaccine makers Moderna MRNA -4.23% and Novavax NVAX -2.66% look set to remain stuck in the doldrums that began after Merck’s successful test of its Covid-19 treatment. Novavax dropped 3.1% and Moderna fell 4%. Pfizer PFE -0.74% was also down, by 0.8%.
• Business-development company Saratoga Investment SAR 0.31% ‘s stock nudged up 1.8% after it reported record repayments during the second quarter.
• Levi Strauss LEVI -1.92% will give an earnings update after the close.

Chart of the Day

• Silver prices just wrapped up their worst four-month stretch since November 2014, dragged down by expectations for higher interest rates and a slowdown in manufacturing activity.

Write to James Willhite at james.willhite@wsj.com

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