Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 1.6 percent to 22,512.47 while the NASDAQ dipped 2.17 percent to 6,412.19.
The S&P also fell, dropping 1.7 percent to 2,425.82.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
On Thursday, the utilities shares slipped by just 0.6 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Azure Power
Global Ltd (NYSE: AZRE) up 4 percent, and
Centrais Elétricas Brasileiras S.A. - Eletrobras (NYSE: EBR) up 5 percent.
In trading on Thursday, consumer discretionary shares fell 3 percent.
Top Headline
Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX)
said it has exercised its option to buy the remaining shares it already does not own in privately-held Millipede, with the
acquisition seen to expand the former's Structural Heart Portfolio. This deal will add to Boston Scientific's portfolio IRIS
Transcatheter Annuloplasty Ring System, which is being developed for treating patients with severe mitral regurgitation, who are
not able to tolerate an open-heart surgery.
Boston Scientific initially made a $90 million investment in Millipede in January, with an option to purchase the remaining
shares for $325 million at closing.
Equities Trading UP
BioXcel Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: BTAI) shares got a boost, shooting up 76 percent to $4.25 after the company's
acute agitation treatment, BSCL501, received FDA Fast Track Designation.
Shares of Energous Corporation (NASDAQ: WATT) shot up 96 percent to $8.98 after the maker of wireless charging
technologies announced its first customer product approval. Energous said in a press release the U.S. Federal Communications
Commission approved its Delight PSAP hearing device to be marketed and sold in the U.S.
TRACON Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: TCON) shares were also up, gaining 21 percent to $0.70 after reporting 'positive'
top-line results from Phase 1 study of TRC105 and Opdivo in non-small cell lung cancer.
Equities Trading DOWN
CSP Inc. (NASDAQ: CSPI) shares dropped
11 percent to $9.10 following Q4 results. CSP posted a Q4 loss of $0.18 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $0.27 per share. Its
sales declined to $19.638 million from $28.358 million.
Shares of Live Ventures Incorporated (NASDAQ: LIVE) were down 17 percent to $7.50. Live Ventures reported FY18 earnings of $3.01
per share on sales of $199.6 million.
Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPPI) was down, falling around 13 percent to $8.28. Spectrum Pharma reported
submission of Biologics License Application for ROLONTIS as a treatment for chemotherapy-induced neutropenia.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 3.29 percent to $44.70 while gold traded up 0.37 percent to $1,277.70.
Silver traded up 0.94 percent Thursday to $15.265, while copper fell 1.22 percent to $2.667.
Eurozone
European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 slipped 2.36 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index dipped 2.23 percent,
while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 2.57 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX dropped 3.29 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 1.46
percent while U.K. shares fell 1.85 percent.
Economics
Initial jobless claims declined 1,000 to 2016,000 in the latest week, the Labor Department reported. However, economists were
expecting a 217,000 reading.
The FHFA House Price Index increased 0.3 percent in October, versus a 0.2 percent rise in September.
The Conference Board's consumer confidence index declined to 128.1 in December, versus a revised reading of 136.4 for November.
However, economists projected a 133.7 reading.
The Treasury is set to auction 7-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Data on farm prices for November will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.
Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.
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