Nasdaq Gains 1%; American Airlines Cuts Earnings Forecast

U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining over 1% on Thursday.

The Dow traded up 1.36% to 40,396.01 while the NASDAQ rose 1.06% to 17,526.08. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 1.09% to 5,486.47.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Industrials shares jumped by 2.2% on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares fell by 0.2%.

Top Headline

American Airlines Group Inc. AAL reported mixed second-quarter 2024 financial results and lowered its 2024 EPS outlook.

The airline reported second quarter total operating revenue growth of 2% year-over-year to $14.334 billion, missing the consensus of $14.36 billion. The company reported an adjusted EPS of $1.09, down from $1.92 a year ago and above the consensus $1.05.

For 2024, American now expects an adjusted EPS of $0.70 to $1.30 (prior $2.25 to $3.25) versus the consensus of $1.81. It expects 2024 operating margin of 3.5% to 5.5%.

Equities Trading UP
                       

• Predictive Oncology Inc. POAI shares shot up 67% to $1.7896 after the company entered biomarker discovery market after successful retrospective ovarian cancer study yields compelling results.
• Shares of Psyence Biomedical Ltd. PBM got a boost, surging 52% to $0.5888 after the company announced the export of nature-derived psilocybin to Australia and said a trial is projected to be initiated shortly following receipt of drug product by trial sites.
• Viking Therapeutics, Inc. VKTX shares were also up, gaining 34% to $67.50 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter EPS results. The company also announced the advancement of VK2735 to Phase 3.

Equities Trading DOWN

• 2U, Inc. TWOU shares dropped 61% to $1.6117 after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to facilitate a Restructuring Support Agreement.
• Shares of Edwards Lifesciences Corporation EW were down 27% to $63.58 after the company reported worse-than-expected second-quarter sales results and issued third-quarter guidance below estimates. Also, the company acquired JenaValve and Endotronix.
• Ford Motor Company F was down, falling 16% to $11.48 after the company missed analyst EPS estimates for the 2024 fiscal year second quarter.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.7% to $78.13 while gold traded down 2.3% at $2,360.50.

Silver traded down 4.3% to $28.050 on Thursday, while copper rose 0.4% to $4.1245.

Euro zone

European shares were mixed today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.72%, Germany's DAX fell 0.48% and France's CAC 40 fell 1.15%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 0.58%, while London's FTSE 100 rose 0.40%.

Bank lending to households in the Eurozone rose by 0.3% year-over-year to €6.879 trillion in June. The Ifo Business Climate indicator for Germany fell for a third straight month to a reading of 87 in July from 88.6 in June. The manufacturing climate indicator in France declined to 95.5 in July from 98.9 in the prior month.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed lower on Thursday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 3.28%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index falling 1.77%, China's Shanghai Composite Index declining 0.52% and India's S&P BSE Sensex declining 0.14%.

Imports to Hong Kong climbed 9% year-over-year to $429.2 billion, while exports from Hong Kong gained 10.7% to $373.5 billion in June. The People's Bank of China cut its one-year policy loan rate.

Economics

• U.S. initial jobless claims declined by 10,000 to 235,000 in the week ending July 20, compared to market estimates of 238,000.
• U.S. durable goods orders fell by 6.6% month-over-month in June.
• The US economy grew by an annualized 2.8% in the second quarter, up from 1.4% in the prior quarter, and higher than expectations of 2%.
• The EIA said US natural-gas stocks increased 22 billion cubic feet during the week ended July 19, higher than market estimates of a 15 billion cubic feet gain.

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