Toward the end of trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.05 percent to 18,271.28 while the NASDAQ declined 0.11 percent to
5,310.15. However, the S&P 500 gained 0.10 percent to 2,161.89.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Thursday afternoon, energy shares gained by 0.67 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Daqo New Energy
Corp (NYSE: DQ), and Ferrellgas Partners, L.P. (NYSE:
FGP).
In trading on Thursday, healthcare shares tumbled by 0.77 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Alnylam
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALNY), down 48 percent,
and Idera Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: IDRA), down 15
percent.
Top Headline
On Wednesday, Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM) reported
in-line earnings for its third quarter, but revenue missed estimates.
While EPS of $1.09 were in-line with the Street’s consensus, revenue of $3.32 billion missed estimates by $200 million.
Equities Trading UP
Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: AUPH) shares
shot up 26 percent to $5.11 after the company data from a 24-week clinical study called AURION, short for "Aurinia Early Urinary
Protein Reduction Predicts Response Study." The open-label exploratory study consisted of 10 patients suffering from active lupus
nephritisand and assessed the short-term predictors of response using the company's voclosporin (in a 23.7mg dose) in combination
with mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) and oral corticosteroids. The study found that 70 percent of the patients achieved complete
remission at 24 weeks.
Shares of Coupa Software Inc (NASDAQ: COUP) got a
boost, shooting up 92 percent to $34.59 in market debut. Coupa Software priced its IPO of 7.4 million shares at $18 per share.
Georgetown Bancorp Inc (MD) (NASDAQ: GTWN) shares
were also up, gaining 25 percent to $25.45 after Salem Five Bancorp agreed to acquire Georgetown Bancorp in an all cash transaction
valued at around $49.2 million.
Equities Trading DOWN
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALNY)
shares dropped 48 percent to $36.88 after the company announced the discontinuation of the development of its late stage pipeline
drug, Revusiran due to safety concerns. Leerink Swann downgraded Alnylam Pharmaceuticals from Outperform to Market Perform and
lowered the price target from $107.00 to $40.00, while Barclays also downgraded the stock from Overweight to Equal-weight and
lowered the price target from $85.00 to $50.00.
Shares of Inventergy Global Inc (NASDAQ: INVT)
were down 34 percent to $0.823. Inventergy priced its 6 million share offering at $1 per share.
Twitter Inc (NYSE: TWTR) was down, falling around 19
percent to $20.05 after Recode reported that Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Walt Disney Co (NYSE: DIS) are not interested in buying the social media company.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 1.5 percent to $50.57 while gold traded down 1.25 percent to $1,252.80.
Silver traded down 2.32 percent Thursday to $17.29, while copper fell 0.44 percent to $2.16.
Eurozone
European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.40 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.24
percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.09 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX fell 0.16 percent, and the French CAC 40
declined 0.22 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.47 percent.
Economics
U.S. jobless claims declined 5,000 to 249,000 in the latest week. However, economists were expecting claims to reach 256,000 in
the week.
Supplies of natural gas gained 80 billion cubic feet for the week ended September 30, the U.S. Energy Information Administration
reported. Analysts expected a gain of 69 billion cubic feet.
Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.
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