Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.22 percent to 26,444.14 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.55 percent to
8,051.10. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.42 percent to 2,918.21.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Thursday morning, the communication services shares rose 1.05 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included
Globalstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: GSAT) up 4
percent, and Telefônica Brasil S.A. (NYSE: VIV) up 3 percent.
In trading on Thursday, materials shares fell 0.6 percent.
Top Headline
Conagra Brands Inc (NYSE: CAG) posted
downbeat results for its first quarter and issued weak forecast for the current quarter.
Conagra posted quarterly adjusted earnings of $0.47 per share on sales of $1.834 billion. However, analysts were expecting
earnings of $0.49 per share on sales of $1.85 billion.
ConAgra expects Q2 adjusted earnings of $0.57 to $0.60 per share, versus analysts’ estimates of $0.65 per share.
Equities Trading UP
Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACHV) shares shot up 47 percent to $4.0241 after reporting results from study
evaluating effect of food on bioavailability of new formulation of cytisine.
Shares of Cameco Corporation (NYSE: CCJ)
got a boost, shooting up 17 percent to $11.48 after receiving favorable Tax Court of Canada ruling.
Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTGX) shares were also up, gaining 14 percent to $10.12 after the company reported
Fast Track designation for PTG-300.
Equities Trading DOWN
Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) shares
dropped 65 percent to $2.19 after the company reported discontinuation of imetelstat collaboration with Janssen.
Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) were down 22 percent to $14.76 after the company reported
weaker-than-expected results for its second quarter. The company sees FY18 EPS at the low end of its previously guided range.
Second-quarter comps were down 0.6 percent.
ChemoCentryx, Inc. (NASDAQ: CCXI) was
down, falling around 15 percent to $11.26 after the company reported a $75 million common stock offering.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 1.06 percent to $72.33 while gold traded down 0.18 percent to $1,197.00.
Silver traded down 0.11 percent Thursday to $14.385, while copper fell 1.33 to $2.7905.
Eurozone
European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.06 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.43
percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 1.06 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX slipped 0.04 percent, and the French CAC 40
rose 0.02 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.18 percent.
Economics
U.S. durable goods orders rose 4.5 percent for August, versus economists’ expectations for a 1.9 percent gain.
U.S. gross domestic product increased at an annualized rate of 4.2 percent for the second quarter. Economists expected a growth
rate of 4.2 percent.
U.S. jobless claims increased 12,000 to 214,000 in the latest week. However, economists were expecting a reading of 208.000.
U.S. trade deficit in goods increased 5.3 percent to $75.8 billion during August.
U.S. wholesale inventories rose 0.8 percent for August.
The pending home sales index declined 1.8 percent for August.
The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is schedule for release at
10:30 a.m. ET.
The Kansas City Fed manufacturing index for September will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET.
The Treasury is set to auction 7-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan is set to speak in Charlotte, North Carolina at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Data on farm prices for August will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will speak at 4:30 p.m. ET.
Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.
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