Toward the end of trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.05 percent to 21,802.37 while the NASDAQ declined 0.16 percent to
6,268.52. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.11 percent to 2,441.26.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Thursday afternoon, the healthcare shares climbed by 0.35 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included China Cord
Blood Corp (NYSE: CO), up 11 percent, and Immunomedics,
Inc. (NASDAQ: IMMU), up 8 percent.
In trading on Thursday, telecommunications services shares fell by 0.48 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included
China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited (ADR) (NYSE: CHU), down
8 percent, and Mobil'nye Telesistemy PAO (ADR) (NYSE: MBT) down 2 percent.
Top Headline
Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) posted upbeat
quarterly earnings and increased its FY17 guidance.
Dollar Tree earned $0.99 per share in the second quarter on revenue of $5.28 billion. However, Wall Street analysts were
expecting the company to earn $0.87 per share on revenue of $5.24 billion.
Dollar Tree now projects expects full-year net sales of $22.07 billion to $22.28 billion, versus its prior forecast of $21.95
billion to $22.25 billion. The company now projects full-year profit of $4.44 to $4.60 per share, compared to its earlier outlook
of $4.17 to $4.43 per share.
Equities Trading UP
Signet Jewelers Ltd. (NYSE: SIG) shares shot up 17
percent to $60.80 as the company posted stronger-than-expected Q2 profit and reported a deal to buy R2Net for $328 million in
cash.
Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) got a
boost, shooting up 14 percent to $10.96 after the company posted a narrower-than-expected Q2 loss.
Guess?, Inc. (NYSE: GES) shares were also up, gaining
19 percent to $14.84 after the company reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its second quarter on Wednesday.
Equities Trading DOWN
1-800-Flowers.Com Inc (NASDAQ: FLWS) shares
dropped 7 percent to $8.30 as the company posted weaker-than-expected Q4 results.
Shares of J M Smucker Co (NYSE: SJM) were down 10
percent to $107.54 after the company posted downbeat quarterly results and lowered its FY18 forecast.
Seadrill Ltd (NYSE: SDRL) was down, falling around
32 percent to $0.181. Seadrill reported a Q2 net loss of $158 million on revenue of $577 million. The company also disclosed that
it will likely file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on or before 12th September 2017.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 2.09 percent to $47.40 while gold traded down 0.22 percent to $1,291.90.
Silver traded down 0.47 percent Thursday to $17.045, while copper rose 1.76 percent to $3.056.
Eurozone
European shares closed mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.16 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.19
percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 0.51 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.05 percent, and the French CAC 40
fell 0.04 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.33 percent.
Economics
Fed Chair Janet Yellen and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi are projected to speak at the Jackson Hole Economic
Policy Symposium.
U.S. initial jobless claims rose 2,000 to 234,000 in the latest week. However, economists were expecting claims to reach 238,000
last week.
U.S. existing home sales declined 1.3 percent to an annual rate of 5.44 million for July. However, economists expected a 5.57
million rate.
Domestic supplies of natural gas increased 43 billion cubic feet for the week ended August 18, the U.S. Energy Information
Administration reported. However, analysts were expecting a gain of 45 billion cubic feet.
The Kansas City Fed composite index rose to 16.00 for August, versus prior reading of 10.00.
Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.
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