Nasdaq Jumps Over 100 Points; Kellanova Posts Upbeat Results

U.S. stocks traded higher this morning, with the Nasdaq Composite surging over 100 points on Thursday.

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.48% to 38,085.28 while the NASDAQ rose 0.91% to 15,748.02. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.63% to 5,050.25.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares rose by 1% on Thursday.

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

Top Headline

Kellanova K  reported better-than-expected first-quarter financial results.

Kellanova reported a first-quarter FY24 sales decline of 4.3% year-on-year to $3.20 billion, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. Adjusted EPS of $1.01 beat the consensus estimate of 85 cents.

Equities Trading UP
                       

• Allarity Therapeutics, Inc. ALLR shares shot up 95% to $2.6801 after the company announced that Stenoparib shows a clear clinical benefit, leading to early conclusion of the Phase 2 trial in advanced ovarian cancer.
• Shares of Emergent BioSolutions Inc. EBS got a boost, surging 69% to $3.2750 after the company announced operational changes to stabilize its financial position and reported first-quarter financial results.
• Safe & Green Holdings Corp. SGBX shares were also up, gaining 57% to $3.4600. Safe & Green Holdings reported its collaboration and sales of modular units to Britten Inc.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Fastly, Inc. FSLY shares dropped 37% to $8.15 after the company reported first-quarter financial results.
• Shares of Vestis Corporation VSTS were down 34% to $12.18 after the company reported worse-than-expected second-quarter results and lowered its fiscal 2024 outlook.
• XPEL, Inc. XPEL was down, falling 27% to $39.16 after the company reported worse-than-expected first-quarter financial results and slashed its annual revenue growth projection.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.9% to $79.71 while gold traded down 0.2% at $2,307.10.

Silver traded down 1% to $26.48 on Thursday, while copper fell 1.4% to $4.4830.

Euro zone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 0.1%, Germany's DAX gained 0.1% and France's CAC 40 fell 0.7%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index gained 0.4%, while London's FTSE 100 rose 0.4%.

The HCOB Eurozone manufacturing PMI edged higher to 45.7 in April versus the preliminary reading of 45.6. Germany's manufacturing PMI climbed to 42.5 in April from 41.9 in the prior month, while French manufacturing PMI declined to 45.3 in April versus 46.2 in March.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly higher on Wednesday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 0.10%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumping 2.5% and S&P BSE Sensex gaining 0.17%.

Hong Kong's economy grew 2.7% year-over-year in the first quarter compared to a 4.3% increase in the prior period, while the Hong Kong Monetary Authority kept its base rate unchanged at 5.75%.

The HSBC India manufacturing PMI was revised lower to 58.8 in April compared to preliminary reading of 59.1. The consumer confidence index for Japan fell to 38.3 in April versus 39.5 a month ago.                                

Economics

• The trade deficit in the US narrowed slightly to $69.4 billion in March versus a revised $69.5 billion gap in February.
• Exports of goods and services fell by $5.3 billion to $257.6 billion in March, while imports into the US fell by 1.6% to $327 billion.
• U.S. initial jobless claims came in unchanged from the previous week at 208,000 during the week ending April 27, compared to market expectations of 212,000.
• Unit labor costs in the U.S. nonfarm business sector rose an annualized 4.7%, while nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased by 0.3% in the first quarter.

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