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The Day’s Results
● Dow Jones Industrial Average: +0.38 percent to 16,421.89
● Standard & Poor’s 500 Index: +0.17 percent to 1,887.03
● NASDAQ Exchange: -0.13 percent to 4,352.13
Thursday’s trading session saw benchmark indices advance to modest gains, with the S&P 500 reaching a new intraday high, as investors were encouraged by the lowest jobless claims data in 3 months, and were relieved that Russian President Vladimir Putin had seemingly changed his mind about sending the army into neighboring Ukraine. The NASDAQ, however, was , this was simply not enough to prevent the NASDAQ exchange from dipping into negative territory late in the session and staying there.
Our Top Stories
● Shares for Equities.com small-cap oil & gas services provider Natural Gas Services Group (NGS) had another strong day, and on 2.5 times normal volume after Wunderlich lifted it’s price target on the stock to $40 per share.
● Senior Editor Joel Anderson covered the day’s biotech action, with reports on the surge for Sangamo Biosciences (SGMO) and the dip for Arrowhead Research Corp. (ARWR) .
● Senior Editor Jacob Harper, meanwhile, places the impressive run for green battery-maker Plug Power Inc. (PLUG) into perspective ahead of next week’s earnings.
● Discount bulk-retail giant COSTCO (COST) shocked the street with a steep miss on earnings for its fiscal Q2. Andrew Klips has the story.
On the Dow
American Express (AXP) led the way up on the Dow, with gains of 1.50 percent, followed construction equipment giant Caterpillar (CAT) and JP Morgan (JPM) . Most of the index’s components closed the day a bit higher, though Pfizer Inc. (PFE) and Home Depot (HD) took modest losses of 0.90 and 0.60 percent respectively.
On the S&P 500
Office supply retailer Staples Inc. (SPLS) took a dive worth over 15 percent of it’s share price on the day, after the company followed up the release of a disappointing earning statement with the announcement that it would be closing 225 of its locations across the US. Oil and gas companies put in some notable performances however, with Valero Energy Corporation (VLO) adding 5 percent, followed by Marathon Petroleum (MPC) , FMC Technologies (FTI) , and Tesoro Corporation (TSO) , all of which added over percent of their own.
On the NASDAQ
Shares for green battery maker Plug Power Inc. cooled off considerably, shedding nearly 6 percent throughout the day’s trading as tech stocks ultimately dragged the NASDAQ lower. Social media giant Facebook (FB) was off by over one percent on volume, while Micron Technology (MU) , Zynga Inc (ZNGA) and Cisco Systems (CSCO) headed lower as well.