Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.2 percent to 24,526.85 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.4 percent to
7,054.06. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.01 percent to 2,638.76.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Thursday morning, the information technology shares climbed 0.6 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included
Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) up 18 percent,
and Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ: LRCX) up 14 percent.
In trading on Thursday, consumer staples shares fell 1.5 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
Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AZPN)
shares got a boost, shooting up 14 percent to $101.87 after the company reported upbeat Q2 results.
Shares of Triumph Group, Inc. (NYSE: TGI)
shot up 28 percent to $16.96 after the company reported a deal to transition Global 7500 program to Bombardier.
Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) shares were
also up, gaining 17 percent to $104.64 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 $11.59 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 11 percent to $124.21 after the company reported downbeat results for
its fourth quarter and issued weak FY19 earnings forecast.
NuCana plc (NASDAQ: NCNA) was down,
falling around 12 percent to $12.45 after announcing a $75 million ADS offering.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.7 percent to $52.25 while gold traded down 0.56 percent to $1,283.00.
Silver traded down 0.78 percent Thursday to $15.26, while copper fell 0.6 percent to $2.6385.
Eurozone
European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.38 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index climbed 0.67
percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index surged 1.08 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.49 percent, and the French CAC 40
climbed 0.81 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.32 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.
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 January will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET.
The EIA’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is schedule for release at 11:00 a.m. ET.
The Treasury is set to auction 4-and 8-week bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.
Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.
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