U.S. stocks traded mixed late in trading, with the Nasdaq Composite falling about 15 points on Thursday.
The Dow rose 0.06% to 39,785.29 while the NASDAQ fell 0.13% to 16,383.85. The S&P 500 Index also rose 0.10% to 5,253.70.
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Leading and lagging sectors
Energy stocks jumped 1.1% on Thursday.
In Thursday trading, communications services shares fell 0.2%.
Main title
Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. MSM fell more than 2% during Thursday’s session after the company reported mixed second-quarter results.
MSC Industrial Direct reported Q2FY24 net sales fell 2.7% y/y to $935.3 million, missing consensus of $946.5 million. Adjusted EPS was $1.18, down 18.6%, beating the consensus of $1.16.
MSC Industrial reiterated its fiscal year 24 ADS growth outlook of between 0% and 5%, an adjusted operating margin of between 12% and 12.8% and operating cash flow conversion above 125 %.
Stock trading UP
Avalo Therapeutics, Inc. AVTX shares jumped 384% to $22.98 after the company announced it had acquired a Phase 2-ready anti-IL-1β mAb, which it refers to as AVTX-009, through the privately held company acquisition AlmataBio. The company also announced private placement financing of up to $185 million.
Shares of Xilio Therapeutics, Inc. XLO got a boost, up 128% to $1.46 after the company announced an exclusive licensing agreement with Gilead Sciences for a tumor-activated IL-12 program. The company announced $11.3 million in private placement equity financing.
Biodexa Pharmaceuticals Plc BDRX shares also rose, gaining 76% to $1.51. Biodexa’s MTX110 has shown promise in extending life expectancy against aggressive brain tumors.
Stock trading DOWN
Primech Holdings Ltd. PMEC shares fell 64% to $1.3999 after the company released financial updates and corporate highlights for the six months ended September 30, 2023.
Shares of urban-gro, Inc. UGRO fell 23% to $1.3898 after the company reported worse-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results.
Data storage company DTST fell 24% to $5.80 after fourth-quarter results.
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Merci
In commodity news, oil rose 2.2% to $83.11, while gold rose 1.3% to $2,241.80.
Silver traded 0.9% higher at $24.975 on Thursday, while copper rose 0.3% to $4.0110.
Eurozone
European stocks closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.18%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.26% while Spain’s IBEX 35 index rose 0.33%. The German DAX rose 0.08% The French CAC 40 rose 0.01% while the Italian FTSE MIB index rose 0.03%.
Bank loans to households in the Eurozone increased 0.3% year-on-year to reach €6.87 trillion in February. Italy’s manufacturing sector confidence index rose to 88.6 in March from a revised reading of 87.5 the previous month. The German unemployment rate remained stable at 5.9% in March, while German retail sales fell 1.9% month-on-month in February.
The UK economy contracted by 0.2% year-on-year during the fourth quarter, while the UK current account gap widened to £21.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the revised by £18.5 billion from the previous period. Car production in the UK increased by 14.6% year-on-year to 79,907 units in February.
Asia Pacific Markets
Asian markets closed mostly higher on Thursday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 down 1.46%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index up 0.91%, China’s Shanghai Composite index up 0 .59% and India’s S&P BSE Sensex index up 1.4%.
Singapore’s bank loans rose to SGD801.5 billion in February from SGD794.3 billion in the previous month. Singapore’s home supply price index fell 2.8% year-on-year in February.
Economy
The U.S. economy grew an annualized 3.4% in the fourth quarter, up from 3.2% reported previously.
U.S. initial jobless claims fell from 2,000 to 210,000 in the week ending March 23, compared to market estimates of 215,000.
Chicago’s PMI fell to 41.4 in March from 44 the previous month.
U.S. pending home sales increased 1.6% month-over-month in February compared to a revised 4.7% decline the previous month.
University of Michigan consumer confidence rose to 79.4 in March compared to a preliminary reading of 76.5.
The total number of active oil rigs in the United States fell by 3 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc. reported.
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