Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.49% to 36,102.31 while the NASDAQ fell 0.68% to 15,460.25. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.08% to 4,713.43.
The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 51,290,970 cases with around 823,390 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 34,718,660 cases and 476,470 deaths, while Brazil reported over 22,201,220 COVID-19 cases with 617,340 deaths. In total, there were at least 272,585,360 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 5,348,470 deaths.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Energy shares climbed 2% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Brooge Energy Limited BROG, up 9% and Earthstone Energy, Inc. ESTE up 10%.
In trading on Thursday, information technology shares fell 1.2%.
Top Headline
Accenture plc ACN reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter and raised its FY22 guidance.
Accenture reported quarterly earnings of $2.78 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $2.36 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $14.97 billion, versus expectations of $12.61 billion.
Accenture boosted its FY22 EPS guidance from $9.90-$10.18 to $10.32-$10.60. The company said it expects Q2 sales of $14.3 billion to $14.75 billion, versus analysts’ estimates of $12.48 billion.
Equities Trading UP
Calliditas Therapeutics AB CALT shares shot up 28% to $24.07 after the company announced it was granted by the FDA accelerated approval of TARPEYO to reduce proteinuria in lgA nephropathy.
Shares of Stryve Foods, Inc. SNAX got a boost, shooting 22% to $4.0825 following news of deals for the expansion of its domestic US distribution and product line penetration with Costco and Walmart.
Adagio Therapeutics, Inc. ADGI shares were also up, gaining 17% to $7.44. Traders circulated reiterated buy rating and $46 price target from Jefferies.
Check out these big movers of the day
Equities Trading DOWN
IronNet, Inc. IRNT shares tumbled 26% to $5.00 after the company said Q3 sales results were lower year over year. Needham downgraded IronNet from Buy to Hold.
Shares of Bakkt Holdings, Inc. BKKT were down 25% to $10.32 after the company reported a mixed shelf offering.
uniQure N.V. QURE was down, falling 20% to $23.04 after the company reported clinical update on first patients in Phase I/II clinical trial of AMT-130 gene therapy for the treatment of Huntington's disease.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 1% to $71.61, while gold traded up 1.3% to $1,786.60.
Silver traded up 3% Thursday to $22.20 while copper rose 2.9% to $4.3020.
Euro zone
European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 1.2%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.1% and the German DAX 30 climbed 1.5%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.9%, French CAC 40 climbed 1% and Italy’s FTSE MIB gained 0.7%.
The IHS Markit Eurozone manufacturing PMI declined to 58 in December from 58.4 in November, while services PMI fell to 53.3 from 55.9. Italy’s trade surplus shrank to EUR 3.888 billion in October from EUR 7.587 billion in the year-ago month.
The IHS Markit/CIPS UK Manufacturing PMI fell to a 3-month low of 57.6 in December, while composite PMI fell to 53.2 in December. German composite PMI dropped to 50 in December from 52.2 in the prior month, while French composite PMI declined to 55.6 in December.
Economics
Housing starts increased 11.8% to an annualized rate of 1.679 million in November, while building permits rose 3.6% to an annual rate of 1.712 million.
US initial jobless claims rose by 18 thousand to 206 thousand in the week ended December 11, compared to an over five-decade low level of 188 thousand in the prior period.
The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index dropped to 15.4 in December from a seven-month high level of 39 in the previous month.
Industrial production increased 0.5% from a month ago in November.
The IHS Markit services PMI fell to 57.5 in December from 58.0 in the prior month, while manufacturing PMI slipped to 57.8 from 58.3.
The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.
The Kansas City Fed manufacturing index for December will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET.
The Treasury is set to auction 4-and 8-week bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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