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The Dow outpaced Wall Street peers in lean trading on Wednesday, boosted by strong gains in drugmaker Merck, while investors awaited crucial economic data and commentary from the central bank's policymakers with the long holiday weekend approaching. .N

At 17:31 ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was up 0.72% at 39,563.78. The S&P 500 .SPX was up 0.36% at 5,222.4 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 0.08% at 16,328.291.

The top three S&P 500 .PG.INX percentage gainers:
** Enphase Energy , up 8.3%
** Cintas Corp , up 8%
** Albemarle , up 8%

The top three S&P 500 .PL.INX percentage losers:
** Arista Networks , down 4.1%
** Global Payments , down 4%
** ServiceNow , down 2.8%

The top three NYSE .PG.N percentage gainers:
** GCT Seminconductor Holding , up 464%
** iBio , up 217.1%
** Cazoo Group , up 66.2%

The top two NYSE .PL.N percentage losers:
** Chromocell Therapeutics , down 25.1%
** GameStop , down 15.2%

The top three Nasdaq .PG.O percentage gainers:
** Lixte Biotechnology Holdings , up 49.2%
** Stoke Therapeutics , up 46.9%
** PAVmed , up 33%

The top three Nasdaq .PL.O percentage losers:
** Direct Digital Holdings , down 40.9%
** Wetouch Technology , down 34.9%
** RYVYL , down 33.2%

** argenx SE ARGX.O: up 0.5%
BUZZ - Plans to pursue efgartigimod development in SjD lift argenx shares

** Merck & Co Inc MRK.N: up 4.6%
BUZZ - Hits record high as FDA approves therapy for rare lung condition

** Paysign Inc PAYS.O: up 17.4%
BUZZ - Surges on strong revenue forecast

** GameStop Corp GME.N: down 15.2%
BUZZ - Drops as competition, slow consumer spending weigh on Q4 revenue

** Forge Global Holdings Inc FRGE.N: down 26.0%
BUZZ - Dips after bigger-than-expected Q4 loss

** Moderna Inc MRNA.O: up 1.6%
BUZZ - Rises on $750 mln funding agreement with Blackstone Life Sciences

** Direct Digital Holdings Inc DRCT.O: down 40.9%
BUZZ - Falls after results, outlook miss

** Kimberly-Clark Corp KMB.N: up 0.9%
BUZZ - Gains on business reorganization

** General Electric Co GE.N: up 3.1%
BUZZ - Wells Fargo upgrades PT on General Electric over cost cutting potential

** Novocure Ltd NVCR.O: up 17.8%
BUZZ - Surges as cancer therapy succeeds in late-stage trial

** Bowman Consulting Group Ltd BWMN.O: down 10.7%
BUZZ - Slides on pricing $50 mln stock offering

** Cintas Corp CTAS.O: up 8.0%
BUZZ - Hits record high after uniform rental firm raises annual forecasts

** Newmont Corp NEM.N: up 3.0%

** Barrick Gold Corp GOLD.N: up 3.2%

** Harmony Gold Mining Co Ltd HMY.N: up 3.5%

** Kinross Gold Corp KGC.N: up 2.9%
BUZZ - Gold miners rise on stronger bullion ahead of US inflation data

** Roivant Sciences Ltd ROIV.O: up 8.5%
BUZZ - Rallies as co poised to join S&P MidCap index

** Liquidia Corp LQDA.O: down 4.0%
BUZZ - Falls as rival Merck's therapy for lung condition gets FDA approval

** Spirit Airlines Inc SAVE.N: down 1.5%
BUZZ - Falls after Barclays reinstates with "underweight" rating

** Carnival Corp CCL.N: up 2.9%
BUZZ - Gains after fiscal profit forecast raise

** Reddit Inc RDDT.N: down 11.0%
BUZZ - Shares down 14% in fifth day of trading

** Stoke Therapeutics Inc STOK.O: up 46.9%
BUZZ - Surges again after stock offering launch

** Netflix Inc NFLX.O: down 2.2%
BUZZ - Shares fall; Wedbush offers mixed views

The 11 major S&P 500 sectors:

(Compiled by Rajarshi Roy and Vallari Srivastava)

((Srivastava.Vallari@thomsonreuters.com;))