Nasdaq Down Over 100 Points; Abbott Laboratories Earnings Beat Views

U.S. stocks traded lower toward the end of trading, with the Nasdaq Composite falling more than 100 points on Thursday.

The Dow traded down 1.08% to 40,752.05 while the NASDAQ fell 0.80% to 17,853.34. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 0.75% to 5,546.48.

Check This Out: Top 3 Health Care Stocks Which Could Rescue Your Portfolio In July

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares jumped by 1.1% on Thursday.

In trading on Thursday, health care shares fell by 1.6%.

Top Headline

Abbott Laboratories ABT reported better-than-expected earnings for its second quarter on Thursday.

The company posted sales of $10.38 billion, up 4%, almost in line with the consensus of $10.37 billion. Abbott's adjusted diluted earnings per share was $1.14, beating the analyst estimates of $1.10.

Abbott said it projects full-year 2024 GAAP EPS of $3.30-$3.40 versus prior guidance of $3.25-$3.40, primarily related to intangible amortization, restructuring and cost reduction initiatives and other net expenses. The company forecasts adjusted EPS of $4.61-$4.71 versus the prior guidance of $4.55-$4.70 and consensus of $4.63.

Equities Trading UP
                       

• CommScope Holding Company, Inc. COMM shares shot up 9% to $1.87. Amphenol announced plans to acquire mobile networks businesses from CommScope.
• Shares of Silo Pharma, Inc. SILO got a boost, surging 60% to $3.60. Silo Pharma said it has entered into a Device and CMC Development Master Plan with Resyca BV, a medical technology provider.
• Chuy’s Holdings, Inc. CHUY shares were also up, gaining 48% to $37.33 after Darden Restaurants announced it will acquire the company.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Agenus Inc. AGEN shares dropped 56% to $7.85 after the company announced the FDA discouraged an accelerated approval pathway at the end-of-Phase 2 meeting.
• Shares of Leslie’s, Inc. LESL were down 32% to $2.7850 after the company reported preliminary financial results for the third quarter and cut its full-year guidance. Multiple analysts also lowered price targets on the stock Thursday morning.
• Torrid Holdings Inc. CURV was down, falling 16% to $7.24 after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock from Equal-Weight to Underweight and maintained its $5 price target.

Also Check This Out: Nvidia, Electronic Arts And 2 Other Stocks Insiders Are Selling

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.5% to $83.23 while gold traded down 0.1% at $2,458.60.

Silver traded down 0.5% to $30.225 on Thursday, while copper fell 2.9% to $4.2815.

Euro zone

European shares closed mixed today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.16%, Germany's DAX fell 0.45% and France's CAC 40 rose 0.21%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 0.38%, while London's FTSE 100 rose 0.21%.

Construction output in the Eurozone fell 2.4% year-over-year in May compared to a revised 1.5% decline in the prior month. Passenger car registrations in the European Union climbed 4.3% year-over-year to 1.1 million units in June.

Regular pay in the U.K., excluding bonus payment, rose 5.7% year-over-year to GBP 643/week during the three months to May, while the unemployment rate came in unchanged at 4.4% from March to May.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Thursday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 dipping 2.36%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gaining 0.22%, China's Shanghai Composite Index gaining 0.48% and India's S&P BSE Sensex climbing 0.78%.

Hong Kong’s unemployment rate came in unchanged at 3% during the three months ending June. Japan reported a trade surplus of JPY 224.04 billion in June, compared to market views for a deficit of JPY 240 billion.

Economics

• U.S. initial jobless claims increased by 10,000 to 243,000 in the week ending July 13, compared to market estimates of 230,000.
• The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index rose to 13.9 in July, recording the strongest level in three months, versus 1.3 in June.
• The EIA said U.S. natural gas stocks rose by 10 billion cubic feet in the week ended July 12, compared to market estimates of a 28 billion cubic feet gain.

Now Read This:

• How To Earn $500 A Month From American Express Stock Ahead Of Q2 Earnings