Stocks in the U.S. displayed mixed movement midday, with the Nasdaq Composite boosting around 100 points on Thursday.
The Dow moved down by 0.16% to 38,884.96 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.38% to 16,008.19. The S&P 500 also experienced a rise of 0.16% to 5,077.83.
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Leading and Lagging Sectors
Real estate shares saw a rise of 0.6% on Thursday.
During Thursday’s trading, health care shares experienced a 0.5% decline.
Top Headline
Best Buy Co., Inc. BBY showcased impressive fourth-quarter earnings.
The company reported adjusted fourth-quarter earnings per share of $2.72, surpassing the anticipated $2.51. With quarterly sales hitting $14.646 billion, Best Buy outperformed the analyst consensus of $14.533 billion.
The firm approved a 2% boost in the regular quarterly dividend to $0.94 per share.
Best Buy foresees FY25 adjusted earnings per share falling between $5.75 to $6.20 compared to the estimated $6.13. Revenue is projected to range from $41.3 billion to $42.6 billion, as opposed to the $42.37 billion estimate.
Equities Trading UP
Societal CDMO, Inc. SCTL observed a dramatic 132% surge to $1.0650. Privately held CoreRx Inc. will acquire Societal CDMO, a contract development and manufacturing organization.
Shares of Enveric Biosciences, Inc. ENVB experienced a whopping 155% increase, reaching $2.12. Enveric Biosciences signed non-binding term sheets to pursue the exclusive out-licensing of three classes of compounds.
Vertex, Inc. VERX also saw gains, rising by 32% to $33.46 after reporting exceptional fourth-quarter results and offering robust FY24 guidance.
Equities Trading DOWN
LivePerson, Inc. LPSN encountered a 40% decrease, falling to $1.4450 after revealing fourth-quarter financial results.
Shares of Endava plc DAVA slipped by 39% to $38.99 after second-quarter earnings.
Kineta, Inc. KA fell by 44% to $1.29 following the announcement of exploring strategic alternatives.
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Commodities
In the commodities arena, oil surged up by 0.9% to $79.26 while gold observed a 0.5% increase at $2,053.80.
Silver saw a rise of 0.8% to $22.82 on Thursday, whereas copper climbed by 0.3% to $3.8510.
Euro zone
European shares displayed mixed performance today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 inched up by 0.01%, while London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.07%. Conversely, Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell by 0.67%. The German DAX gained 0.44%, and the French CAC 40 dropped by 0.34%. Italy’s FTSE MIB Index also recorded a decline of 0.11%.
German jobless rate remained stagnant at 5.9% in February, with German retail sales experiencing a 0.4% decline month-over-month in January. Spain’s annual consumer price inflation rate reached a six-month low of 2.8% in February.
The fourth quarter saw France’s economy expanding by 0.1% on quarter, while the annual inflation rate eased to 2.9% in February. Producer prices declined by 1.3% month-over-month in January.
Asia Pacific Markets
Asian markets closed with mixed results on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell by 0.11%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index experienced a 0.15% drop, China’s Shanghai Composite Index surged by 1.94%, and India’s S&P BSE Sensex rose by 0.27%.
Indian fiscal deficit shrank to INR 11.03 trillion from April to January compared to INR 11.91 trillion in the year-ago period. Japanese housing starts witnessed a 7.5% year-over-year decline in January following a 4.0% drop in the previous month. Retail sales in Japan grew by 2.3% year-over-year in January.
Economics
The annual PCE inflation rate experienced a slight decrease from 2.6% in December 2023 to 2.4% in January 2024. Excluding energy and food, the core PCE index showed a year-on-year surge of 2.8%, down from the 2.9% rate observed in December and aligning with the anticipated decrease to 2.8%.
Personal spending rose by 0.2% from the previous month, and personal income saw a 1% increase.
U.S. initial jobless claims rose by 13,000 to 215,000 in the week ending Feb. 24.
The Chicago PMI decreased to 44 in February from 46 in the prior month.
Pending home sales in the U.S. fell by 4.9% from the previous month in January.
U.S. natural-gas supplies declined by 96 billion cubic feet in the week ended Feb. 23, 2024.
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