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Shares of Bavarian Nordic are surging 12% in Danish trading after the company with the only approved mpox vaccine in the U.S. and Europe posted a quarterly revenue beat and announced a huge vaccine order.

Bavarian Nordic, which reported second-quarter revenue of 1.43 billion Danish kroner ($212.9 million) that beat analysts' consensus estimates, said it had signed a contract with an undisclosed European country to supply 440,000 doses of smallpox and mpox vaccine.

Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the mpox outbreak in Africa a global health emergency after a surge in recent cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo and some neighboring countries.

The order by the unnamed European country was "anticipated as part of the 2024 guidance," Bavarian Nordic Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Paul Chaplin said, adding it "has no impact on the remaining vaccine capacity."

Bavarian Nordic shares are up more than 45% in the past month.

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The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says the retail price per litre of Household Kerosene (HHK) paid by consumers in July 2024 was N1,769.86

The NBS in its July report said this showed an increase of 13.81% compared to N1,555.11 recorded in June 2024.

According to the bureau, “On a year on-year basis, the average retail price per litre of the product rose by 40.37% from N1,260.81 in July 2023.

On state profile analysis, the highest average price per litre in July 2024 was recorded in Akwa-Ibom with N2,383.33, followed by Oyo with N2,375.00 & Delta with N2,309.52. On the other hand, the lowest price was recorded in Adamawa with N1,171.11, followed by Taraba with N1,191.30 & Borno with N1,381.58.

The average retail price per gallon of Household Kerosene paid by consumers in July 2024 was N5,762.10 indicating an increase of 1.11% from N5,698.68 in June 2024. On a year-on-year basis, this increased by 33.81% from N4,306.07 in July 2023.

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Canada's two largest freight railroad operators, Canadian National Railway (CNI) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP), locked out nearly 10,000 workers overnight after unsuccessful negotiations with the Teamsters Canada union, threatening U.S. cross-border trade as services were shut down.

The lockouts could also hurt global supply chains as well as Canada, where international trade makes up about two-thirds of GDP.

CPKC said it "is acting to protect Canada's supply chains, and all stakeholders, from further uncertainty and the more widespread disruption that would be created should this dispute drag out further resulting in a potential work stoppage occurring during the fall peak shipping period."

Canadian National added it "has negotiated in good faith" over the past nine months, and that the "Teamsters have not shown any urgency or desire to reach a deal that is good for employees, the company and the economy."

Teamsters Canada, meanwhile, said had made "multiple offers" to the two railroad operators over the past several days, but "none of which were seriously considered by either company."

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Shares in cloud data-warehouse software company Snowflake (SNOW) dropped 8% in extended trading on Wednesday after a widening net loss and rising costs overshadowed quarterly results that came in ahead of expectations. Moreover, despite the firm raising its annual revenue outlook, it left its gross margin forecast unchanged, also possibly contributing to after-hours weakness.

The Bozeman, Montana-based company’s stock, which has tumbled around 43% from its 2024 high through Wednesday’s close, remains out of favor with investors after naming a new CEO in February and disclosing a cyberattack in late May in which data of several high-profile clients, including telecom giant AT&T (T) and TicketMaster-parent Live Nation (LYV), was compromised.

Below, we take a closer look at Snowflake’s chart and use technical analysis to identify important price levels to watch out for amid the stock’s projected post-earnings sell-off.

Since topping out in early February, Snowflake shares formed a falling wedge, a chart pattern that signals a potential upward price movement. 

Indeed, the stock broke out from the wedge earlier this month following a rally from its lower trendline, with volume inching higher ahead of the company’s quarterly results, indicating investors were positioning for a post-earnings move. However, that move looks to be lower, as shares fell 8% to $124.23 in after-hours trading.

Amid a post-earnings fall, investors should monitor three lower chart levels where Snowflake shares could attract buying interest.

The first sits around $123, an area where the shares may encounter support near the June swing low, which also corresponds with a range of recent prices situated close to the falling wedge pattern’s top trendline.

A failure to hold this level could see the shares slide to the $108 region, where they may attract buying interest near the wedge pattern’s low, which also marks the stock’s 52-week low.

Finally, if the stock makes a similar downward trending move to its most recent leg lower from early July to early August, the price could fall to the wedge’s lower trendline around $95. We project this by taking the bars pattern from the down trending move and positioning it from Wednesday’s high.

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Meeting minutes released Wednesday bolstered confidence that an interest rate cut is likely in September, but it’s still unclear how many members of the Federal Reserve will support the decision.

According to the minutes of the central bank's policy meeting on July 30-31, most of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) members supported lowering interest rates from their decades-high levels. But maybe not all of them, as the minutes showed some disagreement on when it would be appropriate to act.

“The vast majority observed that, if the data continued to come in about as expected, it would likely be appropriate to ease policy at the next meeting,” the minutes said.

The statement implied that at least one or more members were still unsure about an interest rate cut, as other sections noted when opinions were unanimous. 

Investors and economists forecast that after a year of holding the influential fed funds rate at 5.25% to 5.5%, the Fed will cut rates for the first time in more than four years at its September meeting.

The July meeting minutes not only showed more Fed officials coalescing behind the idea of a rate cut but also that some believed that the central bank should have begun cutting rates at the July meeting. While all of the officials at the meeting supported the decision to leave rates unchanged, the minutes noted that “several” officials were willing to vote for a rate cut at the meeting. 

Since the minutes reflect economic conditions at the end of July, central bankers didn't have all of the economic data released since, such as the July jobs report that pointed to weakness in the labor market, wrote Bret Kenwell,  U.S. investment analyst at eToro. 

Fed officials have said they are shifting their attention from fighting inflation to preventing unemployment and weakness in the labor market would make them more likely to cut rates.

Investors will closely monitor Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's upcoming remarks. On Friday, he is expected to give more details about the Fed’s policy timeline at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium.

"A rate cut on Sept. 18 was being teed up at the end of last month," wrote BMO Economist Michael Gregory. "Market attention now turns to Powell’s Friday speech at Jackson Hole for further corroboration."

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