Toward the end of trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.32 percent to 24,496.42 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.39 percent to
7,053.36. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.14 percent to 2,635.08.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Thursday afternoon, the information technology shares climbed 0.8 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included
Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) up 18 percent,
and Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ: LRCX) up 15 percent.
In trading on Thursday, consumer staples shares fell 1.7 percent.
Top Headline
Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE: LUV) reported
better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.
Southwest posted quarterly earnings of $1.17 per share on revenue of $5.704 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings
of $1.07 per share on revenue of $5.67 billion.
Equities Trading UP
Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ: LRCX)
shares got a boost, shooting up 15 percent to $159.60 after the company reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its second
quarter and announced a $5 billion buyback plan.
Shares of Triumph Group, Inc. (NYSE: TGI)
shot up 27 percent to $16.90 after the company entered an agreement to sell its Global 7500 wing manufacturing unit to
Bombardier.
Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) shares were
also up, gaining 18 percent to $105.46 after the company reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter and issued
strong fourth-quarter sales guidance.
Equities Trading DOWN
Briggs & Stratton Corporation (NYSE: BGG)
shares dropped 15 percent to $11.65 after the company missed Q2 EPS estimates. The company also cut FY19 EPS and sales
guidance.
Shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE: MKC) were down 13 percent to $121.51 after the company reported downbeat results for
its fourth quarter and issued weak FY19 earnings forecast.
NuCana plc (NASDAQ: NCNA) was down,
falling around 19 percent to $11.50 after announcing a $75 million ADS offering.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 1.05 percent to $53.17 while gold traded down 0.36 percent to $1,285.60.
Silver traded down 0.49 percent Thursday to $15.305, while copper fell 0.57 percent to $2.6395.
Eurozone
European shares closed mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.22 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index climbed 0.23
percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 0.85 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.53 percent, and the French CAC 40
climbed 0.65 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.35 percent.
Economics
Initial jobless claims declined 13,000 to 199,000 in the latest week. However, economists were expecting a 219,000 reading.
The Markit manufacturing PMI increased to 54.9 in December, versus prior reading of 53.8. The services index dropped to 54.2
versus 54.4.
The index of leading economic indicators declined 0.1 percent for December.
U.S. natural gas supplies fell 163 billion cubic feet for the latest week. However, analysts estimated a drop of 145 billion
cubic feet.
Domestic crude supplies rose 7.97 million barrels for the week ended January 18, the Energy Information Administration reported.
However, analysts projected a decline of 435,000 barrels. Gasoline stockpiles gained 4.05 million barrels, while distillate
stockpiles slipped 617,000 barrels last week.
Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.
© 2019 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.