Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.16 percent to 21,208.00 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.22 percent to 6,311.34.
The S&P also rose, gaining 0.07 percent to 2,434.71.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Financial sector was the top gainer in the US market on Thursday. Top gainers in the sector included First Bancorp (NYSE:
FBP), New England Realty Associates LP (NYSE: NEN), and Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services (NYSE: LTS).
In trading on Thursday, utilities shares fell 1.08 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Companhia Paranaense
de Energia (ADR) (NYSE: ELP), down 10 percent, and Cia
Energetica de Minas Gerais CEMIG-ADR (NYSE: CIG), down 4
percent.
Top Headline
J M Smucker Co (NYSE: SJM) reported
better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.
JM Smucker posted Q4 earnings of $1.80 per share on revenue of $1.78 billion. Analysts expected earnings of $1.72 per share on
revenue of $1.77 billion.
JM Smucker expects FY 2018 earnings of $7.85 to $8.05 per share, versus analysts’ estimates of $7.93 per share.
Equities Trading UP
Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN) shares shot up 12 percent
to $45.49 following news that management is exploring a go-private deal.
Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE: BABA) got
a boost, shooting up 10 percent to $138.63 after issuing a strong revenue forecast for FY18. The company’s CFO Maggie Wu drew
expects 45 percent to 49 percent revenue growth in FY2018.
Hydrogenics Corporation (USA (NASDAQ: HYGS) shares
were also up, gaining 27 percent to $8.90 after the company disclosed that it has signed a purchase and license agreement valued at
over USD50 million for 1,000 fuel cell bus power modules.
Equities Trading DOWN
USD Partners LP (NYSE: USDP) shares dropped 14
percent to $11.10. USD Partners reported an offering of 3 million common units.
Shares of NewLink Genetics Corp (NASDAQ: NLNK)
were down 32 percent to $7.19. NewLink Genetics disclosed that Genentech intends to return the rights of IDO inhibitor GDC-0919
back to the company.
MidSouth Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE: MSL) was down, falling
around 13 percent to $12.20 . MidSouth Bancorp reported pricing of upsized offering of 4.58 million shares of common stock at $12
per share.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.07 percent to $45.69 while gold traded down 1.15 percent to $1,278.30.
Silver traded down 1.11 percent Thursday to $17.425, while copper rose 1.84 percent to $2.5985.
Eurozone
European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.04 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.56 percent, while
Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 1.16 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.24 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.08
percent while U.K. shares fell 0.30 percent.
Economics
Initial jobless claims declined 10,000 to 245,000 in the latest week. However, economists were expecting claims to reach 240,000
last week.
Domestic supplies of natural gas increased 106 billion cubic feet for the week ended June 2, the U.S. Energy Information
Administration Thursday reported. Analysts projected a gain of 100 billion cubic feet.
Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.
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