Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Dow Gains 175 Points; JAKKS Pacific Shares Climb After Q1 Results

Toward the end of trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.52% to 33,995.76 while the NASDAQ rose 0.13% to 14,069.67. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.50% to 4,204.22.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 32,230,800 cases with around 574,330 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 18,376,420 cases and 204,830 deaths, while Brazil reported over 14,521,280 COVID-19 cases with 398,180 deaths. In total, there were at least 149,718,850 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 3,153,410 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares climbed by 2.2% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included DISH Network Corporation DISH, up 8%, and Facebook, Inc. FB, up 6%.

In trading on Thursday, health care shares fell 0.7%.

Top Headline

McDonald's Corporation MCD reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter.

McDonald's reported revenue of $5.13 billion in the first quarter, beating estimates of $5.03 billion. Earnings per share of $1.91 beat estimates of $1.81. The company’s Q1 global comps rose 7.5% year over year.

Equities Trading UP

JAKKS Pacific, Inc. JAKK shares shot up 20% to $8.82 after the company reported better-than-expected Q1 results.

Shares of Galera Therapeutics, Inc. GRTX got a boost, shooting 23% to $8.15 after the company announced updated results from its Phase 1/2 pilot trial of GC4419, versus placebo, in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer who are undergoing stereotactic body radiation therapy.

ShiftPixy, Inc. PIXY shares were also up, gaining 14% to $2.85 as the company said it has been named as sponsor related to 4 SPACs.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Adverum Biotechnologies, Inc. ADVM shares tumbled 61% to $3.99 after the company announced a suspected unexpected serious adverse reaction of hypotony, which is clinically relevant decrease in ocular pressure, in its INFINITY clinical trial evaluating ADVM-022 gene therapy for the treatment of diabetic macular edema.

Shares of Cara Therapeutics, Inc. CARA were down 46% to $14.01 after the company announced mixed topline results from its KARE Phase 2 dose-ranging clinical trial of oral Korsuva for the treatment of moderate-to-severe pruritus in mild-to-severe atopic dermatitis patients. The company said the study did not meet the primary endpoint of worst-itch NRS change from baseline at week 12 or secondary endpoint of 4-point responder analysis in the intent-to-treat patient population. However, the study achieved primary endpoint of worst-itch NRS change and secondary endpoint of 4-point responder analysis in pre-specified analyses of mild-to-moderate AD patients, comprising 64% of ITT population.

Farmmi, Inc. FAMI was down, falling 56% to $0.3484 after the company priced its $42.0 million upsized underwritten public offering of ordinary shares.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.6% to $64.89, while gold traded down 0.3% to $1,768.10.

Silver traded down 0.2% Thursday to $26.045 while copper fell 0.4% to $4.4790.

Euro zone

European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.26%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.27% and the German DAX 30 dropped 0.9%. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 fell 0.07% London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.03% and Italy’s FTSE MIB dropped 0.74%.

UK car production surged 46.6% year-over-year to 115,498 units in March. Annual inflation rate in Spain increased to 2.2% in April from 1.3% in the prior month, while unemployment rate dropped to 15.98% in the first quarter from 16.13%. Import prices in Germany increased 6.9% year-over-year in March, while unemployment rate came in unchanged at 4.5% in March.

Economics

The US economy expanded by an annualized 6.4% in the first quarter, versus a 4.3% increase in the prior three-month period.

US initial jobless claims fell to 553 thousand in the week ended April 24th from a revised reading of 566 thousand in the prior week.

US pending home sales index rose 1.9% for March.

US natural gas supplies rose 15 billion cubic feet last week, the Energy Information Administration said.

Check out the full economic calendar here