Gold Surges Over 3%; Dollar General Profit Misses Views

U.S. stocks traded mostly lower toward the end of trading, with the Dow Jones falling around 175 points on Thursday.

The Dow traded down 0.51% to 34,413 while the NASDAQ rose 0.18% to 11,488.56. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 0.02% to 4,079.32.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares rose by 0.2% on Thursday. Leading the sector was strength from AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. AMC and FaZe Holdings Inc. FAZE.

In trading on Thursday, financial shares fell by 1%.

Top Headline

 

Dollar General Corp DG reported worse-than-expected Q3 EPS results and issued Q4 EPS guidance below estimates.

Dollar General reported quarterly sales growth of 11.1% year-on-year to $9.46 billion, beating the consensus of $9.42 billion. EPS of $2.33 missed the analyst consensus of $2.53.

Dollar General sees Q4 EPS of $3.15 - $3.30 versus an estimate of $3.67.

 

Equities Trading UP

 

• COMSovereign Holding Corp. COMS shares shot up 50% to $0.1364 after the company received approval for continued listing on The Nasdaq Capital Market.
• Shares of Okta, Inc. OKTA got a boost, shooting 24% to $66.00 after the company reported better-than-expected Q3 results. The company also issued Q4 and FY23 EPS and sales guidance above analyst estimates.
• Arco Platform Limited ARCE shares were also up, gaining 25% to $11.32 after the company announced receipt of a non-binding going private proposal.

 

Equities Trading DOWN

• G-III Apparel Group, Ltd. GIII shares tumbled 44% to $12.13 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q3 earnings and issued weak FY23 adjusted EPS guidance.
• Shares of Aziyo Biologics, Inc. AZYO were down 41% to $4.0937 after the company announced pricing of an $11.2 million public offering of common stock.
• Lands' End, Inc. LE was down, falling 29% to $8.16 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q3 results and cut FY22 net revenue guidance.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 1.8% to $82.00 while gold traded up 3.2% at $1,815.40.

Silver traded up 5% to $22.86 on Thursday while copper rose 1.7% to $3.8025.

 

Euro zone

European shares closed mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.89%, London’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.19% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.53%. The German DAX gained 0.65%, French CAC 40 rose 0.23% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.31%.

The unemployment rate in the Eurozone dropped to a new record low of 6.5% in October from 6.6% in the previous month, while unemployment rate in Italy fell to 7.8% in October.

The S&P Global Eurozone manufacturing PMI fell to 47.1 in November from a preliminary level of 47.3, while German manufacturing PMI was revised lower to 46.2. The S&P Global/CIPS UK manufacturing PMI rose higher to 46.5 in November versus a preliminary reading of 46.2. The S&P Global France’s manufacturing PMI climbed to 48.3 in November versus 47.2 a month ago. The Nationwide House Price Index in the UK climbed 4.4% year-over-year in November.

 

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed higher on Thursday, with the Japan’s Nikkei gaining 0.92% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumping 0.75%. China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.45%.

The S&P Global Indian manufacturing PMI rose to a three-month high level of 55.7 in November versus 55.3 in the prior month. Japan’s consumer confidence index fell to 28.6 in November, while manufacturing PMI declined to 49 in November from 50.7 in October. The Caixin China General Manufacturing PMI unexpectedly rose to 49.4 in November.

 

Economics

 

• US-based employers announced jobs cuts of 76,835 in November versus 33,835 in the prior month.
• US initial jobless claims fell by 16,000 to 225,000 in the week ending November 26th.
• Personal income in the US rose 0.7% from a month ago in October, while personal spending rose 0.8%.
• The personal consumption expenditure price index rose by 6% year-over-year in October.
• The S&P Global manufacturing PMI was revised higher to 47.7 in November versus a preliminary reading of 47.6.
• The ISM manufacturing PMI fell to 49 in November from 50.2 in the previous month.
• Construction spending in the US dropped 0.3% month-over-month in October.
• US natural-gas supplies dropped 81 billion cubic feet last week, the EIA said.

 

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COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 100,625,490 cases with around 1,105,540 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,673,380 cases and 530,620 deaths, while France reported over 37,846,790 COVID-19 cases with 158,950 deaths. In total, there were at least 648,132,530 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,640,710 deaths.