US Stocks Down; Dow Dips 250 Points

U.S. stocks traded lower this morning, with the Dow Jones dropping over 250 points on Thursday.

The Dow traded down 0.82% to 33,141.74 while the NASDAQ fell 0.58% to 11,955.98. The S&P 500, also fell, dropping, 0.73% to 4,060.76.Check This Out: Adobe And 2 Other Stocks Insiders Are Selling

 

Top Headline

Kellogg Company K reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter on Thursday.

Kellogg posted adjusted earnings of $1.10 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $0.99 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $4.05 billion versus expectations of $3.95 billion.

Kellogg updated its FY23 organic net sales growth guidance from 5-7% to 6-7%.

 

Equities Trading UP

• Comstock Holding Companies, Inc. CHCI shares shot up 23% to $5.69.
• Shares of Arconic Corporation ARNC got a boost, shooting 28% to $28.76 after the company announced it entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management. The company also reported better-than-expected Q1 sales results.
• Shopify Inc. SHOP shares were also up, gaining 27% to $58.71 after the company reported better-than-expected Q1 adjusted EPS and sales results and agreed to sell Shopify Logistics to Flexport.

 

Equities Trading DOWN

• Enviva Inc. EVA shares dropped 59% to $8.82 after the company reported weak Q1 results.
• Shares of PacWest Bancorp PACW were down 42% to $3.74 following a report suggesting the bank may weigh strategic options. The company later confirmed reports about the bank exploring strategic options and assuaged concerns regarding its health.
• Sensus Healthcare, Inc. SRTS was down, falling 44% to $2.73 after the company announced downbeat Q1 results.

 

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Commodities

 

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.6% to $68.21 while gold traded up 0.8% at $2,052.30.

Silver traded up 1.1% to $25.96 on Thursday while copper rose 0.2% to $3.8520.

 

Euro zone

 

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.8%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 1% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.8% The German DAX fell 0.9%, French CAC 40 fell 1.2% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.9%.

The Eurozone economy expanded by 0.1% in the first quarter following a flat fourth quarter, but still missing market expectations for a 0.2% growth. The unemployment rate in Germany came in unchanged at 5.6% in April, while German gross domestic product was also unchanged during the first quarter.

The European Central Bank increased its key interest rates by 25 basis points at its May meeting. Producer prices in the Eurozone fell by 1.6% from a month ago in March versus market estimates of a 1.7% decline.

 

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed higher on Thursday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 rising 0.12%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gaining 1.27% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbing 0.82%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.9%.

Retail sales in Hong Kong surged to a record-high of 39.4% year-over-year in March versus a 29.7% increase in the prior month.

 

Economics

• U.S.-based employers reported job cuts of 66.995K in April.
• U.S. initial jobless claims increased by 13 thousand to 242 thousand in the week ending April 29, versus market estimates of 240 thousand.
• Nonfarm business sector labor productivity fell 2.7% in the first quarter, while unit labor costs increased an annualized 6.3% in the quarter.
• Imports to the U.S. fell by $1.1 billion to reach $320.4 billion in March, while exports rose by $5.3 billion to $256.2 billion.

 

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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 106,613,320 cases with around 1,159,690 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,924,810 cases and 531,420 deaths, while France reported over 39,974,420 COVID-19 cases with 166,420 deaths. In total, there were at least 686,882,230 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,862,560 deaths.