U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Dow Jones index gaining more than 400 points on Wednesday.The Dow traded up 0.83% to 52,095.25 while the NASDAQ surged 0.27% to 25,654.95. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.35% to 7,391.51.Leading and Lagging SectorsHealth care shares jumped by 1.5% on Wednesday.In trading on Wednesday, energy stocks fell by 1.7%.Top HeadlinePaychex Inc (NASDAQ:PAYX) reported better-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter.The company posted quarterly earnings of $1.32 per share which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.30 per share. The company reported quarterly sales of $1.606 billion which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.601 billion.Equities Trading UP Equities Trading DOWNCommoditiesIn commodity news, oil traded down 4.2% to $70.14 while gold traded down 2.8% at $4,032.40.Silver traded down 4.8% to $59.075 on Wednesday, while copper fell 2.6% to $5.9890.Euro zoneEuropean shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.2%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.7%. London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.1%, Germany’s DAX dipped 1.1%, while France’s CAC 40 gained 0.3%.Asia Pacific MarketsAsian markets closed mostly higher on Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 dipping 0.88%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gaining 0.33%, China’s Shanghai Composite rising 0.11% and India’s BSE Sensex gaining 1.04%.Economics