Dow Dips Over 500 Points; US GDP Growth Misses Expectations

U.S. stocks traded lower this morning, with the Dow Jones index tumbling by more than 500 points on Thursday.

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded down 1.42% to 37,915.92 while the NASDAQ fell 2.16% to 15,374.09. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 1.37% to 5,002.04.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer staples shares climbed by 0.3% on Thursday.

In trading on Thursday, communication services shares fell by 6.3%.

Top Headline

The U.S. economy grew an annualized 1.6% in the first quarter, marking a notable slowdown from the 3.4% rate in the final quarter of 2023. However, analysts were expecting a 2.5% growth.

Equities Trading UP                       

• Safe & Green Holdings Corp. SGBX shares shot up 70% to $0.2453. Safe & Green Holdings said it has entered into an agreement to produce 4 modular electrical distribution centers as part of a multi-unit order for a client serving the big box retailer market.
• Shares of Barfresh Food Group, Inc. BRFH got a boost, surging 68% to $1.85.
• Processa Pharmaceuticals, Inc. PCSA shares were also up, gaining 49% to $2.4201 after HC Wainwright & Co initiated coverage on the stock with a Buy rating and announced an $8 price target.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Hanryu Holdings, Inc. HRYU shares dropped 37% to $0.3330. Hanryu Holdings received delinquency notice from the Nasdaq for late annual report filing.
• Shares of Huize Holding Limited HUIZ were down 25% to $0.4697.
• Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, Inc. CSSE was down, falling 28% to $0.3047. Chicken Soup For The Soul Entertainment received delinquency letter from the Nasdaq.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.4% to $83.13 while gold traded up 0.1% at $2,341.60.

Silver traded up 0.4% to $27.45 on Thursday, while copper rose 2.6% to $4.5745.

Euro zone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.3%, London's FTSE 100 rose 0.7% while Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 0.3% The German DAX fell 0.5% French CAC 40 fell 0.8% while Italy's FTSE MIB Index fell 0.2%.

Producer prices in Spain fell 8.2% year-over-year in March compared to a revised 8.5% decline in February. The GfK Consumer Climate Indicator for Germany climbed to -24.2 heading into May versus a revised reading of -27.3 in the prior period. UK's car production fell 27.1% to 59,467 units for March.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly higher on Thursday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 2.16%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gaining 0.48%, China's Shanghai Composite climbing 0.27% and India's S&P BSE Sensex gaining 0.66%.

Hong Kong's trade deficit increased to $45.0 billion in March from $40.6 billion in the year-ago month. The index of leading economic indicators in Japan came in unchanged at 111.8 in February, while index of coincident economic indicators was revised higher to 111.6 in February versus a flash reading of 110.9.

Economics

• U.S. initial jobless claims declined by 5,000 to 207,000 in the week ending April 20, compared to market estimates of 214,000.
• The U.S. economy grew an annualized 1.6% in the first quarter, marking a notable slowdown from the 3.4% rate in the final quarter of 2023. However, analysts were expecting a 2.5% growth.
• U.S. wholesale inventories fell by 0.4% month-over-month in March compared to a revised 0.4% gain in February.

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