Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.44% to 30,286.01 while the NASDAQ rose 0.60% to 12,734.38. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.46% to 3,718.23.
The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 16,980,840 cases with around 307,510 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 9,956,550 confirmed cases and 144,450 deaths, while Brazil reported over 7,040,600 COVID-19 cases with 183,730 deaths. In total, there were at least 74,346,880 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 1,651,730 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Utilities shares climbed 0.9% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Korea Electric Power Corporation (NYSE:KEP), up 12%, and Kenon Holdings Ltd (NYSE:KEN), up 3%.
In trading on Thursday, energy shares fell 0.3%.
Top Headline
Accenture plc (NYSE:CAN) reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter on Thursday.
Accenture posted quarterly earnings of $2.17 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $2.05 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $11.76 billion, versus expectations of $11.36 billion.
Accenture said it expects Q2 sales of $11.55 billion to $11.95 billion, versus estimates of $11.35 billion. The company projects FY21 adjusted EPS of $8.02-$8.25, versus analysts’ expectations of $8.05.
Equities Trading UP
Scopus BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ:SCPS) shares shot up 650% to $44.40. Scopus BioPharma’s filing showed registration for 500,000 share common stock offering. Scopus Biopharma shares gained around 8% on Wednesday after the company priced its IPO at $5.5 per share.
Shares of Oriental Culture Holding Ltd (NASDAQ:OCG) got a boost, shooting 178% to $16.97 as a potential post IPO volatility. Oriental Cultural, on Tuesday, priced its IPO at $4 per share.
MingZhu Logistics Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:YGMZ) shares were also up, gaining 68% to $6.74 .
Equities Trading DOWN
Triterras Inc (NASDAQ:TRIT) shares tumbled 37% to $8.36 after confirming it informed a statutory demand for payment was made to Antanium Resources in Singapore. Triterras said in a regulatory filing it was informed that a statutory demand for payment from Antainium Resources (formerly known as Rhodium Resources) was filed by a creditor of Rhodium on Dec. 1.
Shares of BioCardia Inc (NASDAQ:BCDA) were down 21% to $4.56. BioCardia disclosed positive DSMB review and recommendation to continue Phase III pivotal CardiAMP heart failure study as designed. BioCardia recently reported a 1.789 million share registered direct offering priced at $4.75 per share.
Mediaco Holding Inc (NASDAQ:MDIA) was down, falling 22% to $2.81 after climbing around 35% on Wednesday.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.3% to $47.97, while gold traded up 1.2% to $1,882.10.
Silver traded up 3.4% Thursday to $25.915 while copper rose 1.1% to $3.5995.
Euro zone
European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.5%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.1%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.5%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 gained 0.8%, French CAC 40 gained 0.4% and London’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.02%. Eurozone consumer prices declined for a third straight month by 0.3% year-over-year in November, while French manufacturing climate indicator rose to 93 in December versus 92 in November.
Economics
US housing starts rose 1.2% to an annual rate of 1.547 million in November, while building permits rose 6.2% to 1.639 million.
US initial jobless claims climbed to 885,000 in the week ended December 12, versus a revised level of 862,000 in the prior week
The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index declined to 11.1 in December versus 26.3 in November.
The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.
The Kansas City Fed's manufacturing index for December will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET. Analysts expect the index declining to 10 in December from previous reading of 11.
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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