Toward the end of trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.30 percent to 21,052.85 while the NASDAQ declined 0.50 percent to
5,874.47. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.45 percent to 2,385.26.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Utilities shares climbed by 0.42 percent in trading on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included RGC Resources
Inc. (NASDAQ: RGCO), and Calpine Corporation
(NYSE: CPN).
In trading on Thursday, basic materials shares fell by 1.66 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Endeavour
Silver Corp (NYSE: EXK), down 22 percent, and Greif,
Inc. (NYSE: GEF), down 10 percent.
Top Headline
Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) reported
weaker-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter on Thursday.
Abercrombie & Fitch reported Q4 earnings of $0.71 per share on revenue of $1.04 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of
$0.75 per share on revenue of $1.05 billion.
Abercrombie & Fitch’s same-store sales dropped 5 percent for the quarter, while comparable sales at Hollister rose 1
percent.
Equities Trading UP
Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: AUPH) shares
shot up 24 percent to $4.60 after the company disclosed that Voclosporin met 48-week remission endpoints.
Shares of Ameresco Inc (NYSE: AMRC) got a boost,
shooting up 16 percent to $6.05 after the company reported strong Q4 results.
Navigator Holdings Ltd (NYSE: NVGS) shares were also
up, gaining 23 percent to $13.50 on better-than-expected quarterly earnings.
Equities Trading DOWN
Omega Protein Corporation (NASDAQ: OME) shares
dropped 21 percent to $20.65 after the company posted weak Q4 earnings.
Shares of Endeavour Silver Corp (NYSE: EXK) were down
around 22 percent to $3.41. Endeavour Silver reported a Q4 loss of $5.2 million.
PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTCT) was down,
falling around 16 percent to $11.10 following the announcement that its drug trial for ACT CF has missed primary and secondary
endpoints. Now the company plans to discontinue current clinical development of Ataluren in CF close ongoing extension studies and
withdraw marketing application authorization in Europe.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 2.02 percent to $52.74 while gold traded down 1.38 percent to $1,232.70.
Silver traded down 3.83 percent Thursday to $17.78, while copper fell 1.72 percent to $2.69.
Eurozone
European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.02 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.36 percent,
while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 0.39 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.06 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.06
percent while U.K. shares fell 0.01 percent.
Economics
U.S. initial jobless claims declined 19,000 to 223,000 for the latest week. However, economists were projecting claims to reach
243,000 in the week.
Supplies of natural gas gained 7 billion cubic feet for the week ended February 24, the U.S. Energy Information Administration
reported. Analysts were projecting inventories to decline 2 billion cubic feet.
Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester is set to speak in New York at 7:00 p.m. ET.
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