Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 1.24 percent to 24,489.04 while the NASDAQ climbed 1.19 percent to
7,153.21. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.01 percent to 2,668.77.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Thursday morning, the financial shares climbed 1.63 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Jianpu Technology
Inc. (NYSE: JT), up 7 percent, and Waddell & Reed
Financial, Inc. (NYSE: WDR), up 5 percent.
In trading on Thursday, real estate shares fell 0.69 percent.
Top Headline
Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE: DAL) reported
better-than-expected profit for its first quarter.
The company said it earned 74 cents per share in the first quarter on revenue of $9.968 billion versus expectations of 73 cents
per share on revenue of $9.84 billion. The company did guide its second quarter EPS to be in a range of $1.80 to $2.00 versus
expectations of $1.95 per share.
Equities Trading UP
Northern Technologies International Corporation (NASDAQ: NTIC) shares shot up 16 percent to $25.8493 after the company reported Q2 results
and raised its FY18 outlook.
Shares of QuinStreet, Inc. (NASDAQ: QNST) got a
boost, shooting up 19 percent to $12.0766 after the company reported preliminary Q3 sales results ahead of estimates. Sales are
expected to come in at $115 million, beating estimates by $23 million.
Chicago Bridge & Iron Company N.V. (NYSE: CBI) shares
were also up, gaining 13 percent to $15.27 after the company reported preliminary results for its first quarter.
Equities Trading DOWN
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) shares
dropped 19 percent to $17.47. Bed Bath & Beyond reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter, but issued weak FY18 guidance.
Comps were down 0.4 percent in the quarter.
Shares of Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX) were down
15 percent to $1.77. Novavax priced its 30.3 million share public offering of common stock at $1.65 per share.
Argan, Inc. (NYSE: AGX) was down, falling around 11
percent to $38.28 after the company posted downbeat quarterly results.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.49 percent to $66.49 while gold traded down 0.89 percent to $1,347.90.
Silver traded down 1.21 percent Thursday to $16.565, while copper fell 2.17 percent to $3.0495.
Eurozone
European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.38 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.11 percent,
while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 0.79 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.57 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.23
percent while U.K. shares rose 0.01 percent.
Economics
Initial jobless claims slipped 9,000 to 233,000 in the first week of April. Economists were expecting claims to reach
230,000.
U.S. import price index was flat for March, versus economists’ expectations for a 3.8 percent rise. Export prices increased 0.3
percent in March.
The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is schedule for release at
10:30 a.m. ET.
Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari is set to speak in Minneapolis at 5:00 p.m. ET.
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