Towards the end of trading, US stocks experienced mixed performance, with the Dow Jones declining by over 100 points on Thursday.
The Dow Jones fell by 0.36% to reach 34,763.44, while the NASDAQ saw a rise of 0.26% to 14,056.44. The S&P 500 also dropped by 0.03% to reach 4,513.47.
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Sectors Leading and Lagging
Consumer discretionary shares experienced a surge of 0.7% on Thursday.
On the other hand, health care shares witnessed a decline of 0.9%.
Top News
Dollar General Corp DG reported second-quarter FY23 sales growth of 3.9% year-on-year, amounting to $9.80 billion, which missed the analyst consensus of $9.92 billion. The company’s EPS of $2.13 also fell short of the estimated $2.46.
Dollar General lowered its FY23 net sales growth outlook from 3.5% – 5% to 1.3% – 3.3%. The company also revised its FY23 EPS guidance from $9.83 – $10.68 to $7.10 – $8.30, compared to the estimated $10.01.
Gainers in Equities Trading
Acer Therapeutics Inc. ACER saw a significant surge of 93% in its stock price, reaching $1.1799, following the announcement of its acquisition by Zevra Therapeutics. The deal is projected to have a total potential value of up to $91 million for Acer stockholders.
Shares of Satixfy Communications Ltd. SATX also experienced a boost, rising 29% to $0.6148, after reaching an agreement with MDA Ltd. to sell its digital payload division, SatixFy Space Systems UK Ltd., for $40 million.
Shares of Canopy Growth Corporation CGC were up as well, with a gain of 30% at $0.5899. This surge was sparked by the HHS calling for marijuana to be moved to a lower-risk drug category.
Losers in Equities Trading
Lands’ End, Inc. LE saw a decline of 25% in its stock price, falling to $7.74, after reporting second-quarter results that were worse than expected and issuing weak guidance.
Shares of Dollar General Corporation DG were down 13% at $138.00. The company reported second-quarter FY23 sales growth of 3.9% year-on-year, leading to $9.80 billion in revenue, which missed the estimated $9.92 billion.
Duluth Holdings Inc. DLTH also experienced a decline, falling by 14% to $6.30, following a year-over-year decrease in second-quarter EPS results and the CFO’s announcement of stepping down, effective on September 15.
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Commodities
In terms of commodities, oil prices rose by 2.2% to reach $83.39, while gold prices dropped by 0.3% to $1,967.80.
Silver prices, on the other hand, rose by 0.5% to $24.845, while copper prices experienced a decline of 0.3% to reach $3.8310.
Euro Zone
European shares mainly witnessed a decline today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell by 0.20%, London’s FTSE 100 dropped by 0.46%, Spain’s IBEX 35 Index saw a decline of 0.47%, Germany’s DAX rose by 0.35%, France’s CAC 40 fell by 0.65%, and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index experienced a decline of 0.29%.
The Eurozone’s annual inflation rate remained steady at 5.3% in August, while the unemployment rate reached a record low of 6.4% in July. Germany’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.7% in August.
The French economy saw a growth of 0.5% in the second quarter, while consumer price inflation reached 4.8% year-over-year in August. Italy’s annual inflation rate eased to 5.5% in August from 5.9% in the previous month, while the jobless rate rose to 7.6% in July from a revised 7.5% in the previous month.
Asia Pacific Markets
Asian markets closed mostly lower on Thursday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 experiencing a gain of 0.88%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index witnessing a decline of 0.55%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index also falling by 0.55%, and India’s S&P BSE Sensex seeing a drop of 0.4%.
In Hong Kong, retail sales saw a 14% year-over-year increase in July, compared to a revised surge of 17.4% in the previous month. China’s official NBS Non-Manufacturing PMI fell to 51.0 in August from 51.5 in the previous month.
In Japan, housing starts declined by 6.7% year-over-year in July, while retail sales experienced a 6.8% year-over-year increase in the same month. Industrial production in Japan also fell by 2.0% month-over-month in July.
Economics
US initial jobless claims fell by 4,000 from the revised reading of the previous week, reaching 228,000 for the week ending on August 26, compared to market estimates of 235,000.
In July, core PCE prices in the US rose by 0.2% month-over-month.
Personal spending in current dollars saw a growth of 0.8% in July, while personal income increased by 0.2% over the same period.
The Chicago Business Barometer climbed to 48.7 in August from 42.8 in July.
US natural gas supplies saw an increase of 32 billion cubic feet last week, according to the EIA.
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COVID-19 Update
The United States has the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with a total of 108,070,840 cases and approximately 1,173,590 deaths. India has confirmed at least 44,997,110 cases and 531,920 deaths, while France has reported over 40,138,560 cases and 167,640 deaths. Worldwide, there have been at least 694,605,410 cases of COVID-19, with more than 6,911,440 deaths.
