Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mostly Lower; Dollar General Misses Q1 Views

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.79 percent to 24,473.82 while the NASDAQ climbed 0.02 percent to 7,464.01. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.41 percent to 2,712.85.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Thursday morning, the information technology shares surged 0.34 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Keysight Technologies, Inc. KEYS, up 14 percent, and Tech Data Corporation TECD up 8 percent.

In trading on Thursday, consumer staples shares fell 1.26 percent.

Top Headline

Dollar General Corporation DG reported weaker-than-expected results for its first quarter.

Dollar General posted adjusted earnings of $1.36 per share on revenue of $6.114 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.40 per share on revenue of $6.2 billion. Its same-store growth rose 2.1 percent in the quarter.

Equities Trading UP

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. MDGL shares shot up 132 percent to $251.6029 in reaction to an encouraging Phase 2 clinical trial update. The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company said its liver-directed, thyroid hormone receptor called MGL-3196 showed a statistical significance in the primary endpoint of lowering liver fat at 12 weeks and also 36 weeks.

Shares of vTv Therapeutics Inc. VTVT got a boost, shooting up 27 percent to $2.11 after the company reported a licensing deal with Newsoara Biopharma to rights for vTv's PDE4 Inhibitor in China and other Pacific Rim territories.

J.Jill, Inc. JILL shares were also up, gaining 21 percent to $7.49 after the company posted upbeat quarterly earnings.

Equities Trading DOWN

scPharmaceuticals Inc. SCPH shares dropped 37 percent to $9.018 after the FDA identified deficiencies in the company’s New Drug Application for FUROSCIX. However, the FDA letter did not specify deficiencies identified and notification does not reflect final decision on information under review.

Shares of Euroseas Ltd. ESEA were down 28 percent to $1.7615. Euroseas announced completion of the spin-off of its drybulk fleet into EuroDry Ltd.

Quantum Corporation QTM was down, falling around 19 percent to $2.764. Quantum appointed J. Michael Dodson as Chief Financial Officer and interim CEO, effective May 31. Lake Street downgraded Quantum from Buy to Hold and lowered the price target from $6 to $4.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1.76 percent to $67.01 while gold traded down 0.12 percent to $1,304.90.

Silver traded down 0.24 percent Thursday to $16.505, while copper fell 0.41 to $3.0565.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.05 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.16 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index climbed 0.15 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX declined 0.62 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.09 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.28 percent.

Economics

Initial jobless claims fell 13,000 to 221,000 in the latest week. However, economists were projecting a 225,000 reading.

Consumer spending rose 0.6 percent in April, versus a revised 0.5 percent increase in March. Economists were expecting a 0.4 percent rise.

The Chicago PMI rose 5.1 points to a reading of 62.7 in May..

U.S. pending home sales declined 1.3 percent to 106.4 for April.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is set to speak at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Fed Governor Lael Brainard will speak at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan is set to speak at 8:30 p.m. ET.