On The Fly: Top stock stories for Wednesday

Stocks opened in positive territory and remained there throughout the session. The averages moved in a narrow range for most of the day as investors anticipated the release of the minutes from the May 3rd FOMC meeting. There was little initial reaction to the minutes, though the major indexes gained strength into the close to finish the day near their highs. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., the FHFA home price index rose 0.6% to 246.2 in March. Existing home sales fell 2.3% in April to a 5.57M home rate, which was a bit worse than expected. Crude oil inventories drew down by 4.43M barrels versus the consensus for a 2.0M barrel decline. In Fed news, minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting read that most Fed members see the removal of some policy accommodation "soon" and that asset valuation pressure in certain markets were "notable." In addition, the minutes showed that the Fed is discussing a proposed plan for reducing the system's securities holdings in a "gradual and predictable manner." COMPANY NEWS: Shares of Nvidia (NVDA) rose 1.1% after Bloomberg reported that Japan's SoftBank Group (SFTBF) has become the U.S. chipmaker's fourth-largest shareholder with a $4B, or 4.9%, stake... It was another tough day for the traditional retail sector, as shares of home improvement retailer Lowe's (LOW) and high-end jeweler Tiffany (TIF) fell 3% and 8.7%, respectively, following their earnings reports... In M&A news, shares of Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) jumped nearly 9% after the Wall Street Journal reported that Cerberus Capital and American Eagle (AEO) are working on a joint offer for the apparel retailer. According to the report, a "number" of parties continue to be involved in the auction process, including other private equity firms and Express (EXPR). A deal could be reached in roughly a month, the Journal noted. Shares of American Eagle gained 2.25% after the news... Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank (DB) shares slipped 1.6% in New York after Democratic lawmakers, including U.S. Representative from California Maxine Waters, sent a letter to the German lender's chief executive officer John Cryan seeking information related to two internal reviews reportedly conducted by the bank: one regarding its 2011 Russian mirror trading scandal and the other regarding its review of the personal accounts of President Donald Trump and his family members held at the bank. The letter said it was "troubling" that Deutsche Bank has refused to disclose or publicly comment on the results of either of its internal reviews. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the notable gainers was Intuit (INTU), which jumped 6.7% after the tax preparation software maker reported better than expected results for its third fiscal quarter. Also higher was Triumph Group (TGI), which advanced 30.5% after reporting earnings and announcing a settlement agreement that resolves all outstanding commercial disputes with Bombardier (BDRBF). Additionally, Puma Biotechnology (PBYI) surged 30% after it said that the U.S. FDA Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted to recommend approval of neratinib, its treatment for certain types of breast cancer. Among the noteworthy losers was Chico's (CHS), another retailer that dropped over 11% after its quarterly sales and profits came in below expectations. Also lower was Neurocrine Biosciences (NBIX), which fell 8.7% after the company's Phase 2a study of Ingrezza in pediatric Tourette syndrome missed the primary endpoint in its first controlled trial. INDEXES: The Dow added 74.51, or 0.36%, to 21,012.42, the Nasdaq gained 24.31, or 0.4%, to 6,163.02, and the S&P 500 rose 5.97, or 0.25%, to 2,404.39.