Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.12 percent to 25,595.87 while the NASDAQ declined 0.21 percent to
7,627.09. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.17 percent to 2,800.66.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
On Thursday, the materials shares rose 0.5 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Companhia Siderúrgica
Nacional (NYSE: SID) up 5 percent, and
Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc. (NYSE: RYAM) up 4 percent.
In trading on Thursday, utilities shares fell 1 percent.
Top Headline
Accenture Plc (NYSE: ACN) reported upbeat
results for its second quarter and raised its FY19 EPS guidance.
Accenture reported quarterly earnings of $1.73 per share on sales of $10.5 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of
$1.57 per share on sales of $10.3 billion.
Accenture said it expects Q3 sales of $10.80 billion to $11.10 billion, versus analysts’ estimates of $11.05 billion. Accenture
raised its FY19 EPS guidance from $7.01-$7.25 to $7.18-$7.32.
Equities Trading UP
Quantenna Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: QTNA) shares got a boost, shooting up 17 percent to $24.04 after the company
announced it would be acquired by ON Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: ON) for $24.50 per share.
Shares of Movado Group, Inc. (NYSE: MOV)
shot up 18 percent to $38.42 after reporting upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter.
Tricida, Inc. (NASDAQ: TCDA) shares
were also up, gaining 40 percent to $33.65 after the company announced its TRCA-301E trial met its primary and all secondary
endpoints. The company reported better-than-expected Q4 EPS and announced positive results from its long-term clinical trial of
TRC101.
Equities Trading DOWN
Proteon Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PRTO) shares dropped 85 percent to $0.5101 after the company announced its Phase 3
trial of PATENCY-2 did not meet its primary endpoint.
Shares of American Renal Associates Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: ARA) were down 39 percent to $5.94 after the company stated its CFO resigned amid
audit work. The company is being investigated by Block & Leviton LLP for violations of federal securities law.
Reebonz Holding Limited (NASDAQ: RBZ)
was down, falling around 40 percent to $16.69 after climbing 220.00 percent on Wednesday. Reebonz announced a $20,000,000 ordinary
share offering. The offering has not yet been priced.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.8 percent to $58.91 while gold traded down 1.5 percent to $1,297.80.
Silver traded down 1.5 percent Thursday to $15.065, while copper rose 0.6 percent to $2.881.
Eurozone
European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.07 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.45
percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.43 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX gained 0.11 percent, and the French CAC 40
dropped 0.08 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.6 percent.
Economics
U.S. economy expanded at an annual pace of 2.2 percent in the fourth quarter, versus an initial 2.6 percent estimate. However,
analysts projected a 2.4 percent growth rate.
U.S. initial jobless claims fell 5,000 to 211,000 for the latest week. However, analysts were expecting a reading of
220,000.
The pending home sales index fell 1 percent for February.
Domestic supplies of natural gas dropped 36 billion cubic feet for the week ended March 22, the U.S. Energy Information
Administration reported. Analysts projected a fall of 40 billion cubic feet.
New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams is set to speak in San Juan, Puerto Rico at 1:15 p.m. ET.
The Treasury will auction 7-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.
New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams will speak in San Juan, Puerto Rico at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Data on farm prices for February will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.
Data on money supply for the latest week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.
St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard is set to speak in Madison, WI at 6:20 p.m. ET.
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