Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Crude Oil Surges Over 4%; Alkermes Shares Slide Following Announcement of Failed Depression Drug Trial

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Toward the end of trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.83 percent to 15,897.41 while the NASDAQ gained 0.29 percent to 4,484.84. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.65 percent to 1,871.45.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
On Thursday, energy shares surged by 2.71 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included
Kinder Morgan IncKMI
, up 15 percent, and
Devon Energy CorpDVN
, up 10 percent. In trading on Thursday, healthcare shares dipped by 0.90 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included
Alkermes PlcALKS
, down 43 percent, and
Repligen CorporationRGEN
, down 6 percent.
Top Headline Verizon Communications Inc. VZ
reported better-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter. Verizon reported a quarterly profit of $5.39 billion, or $1.32 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $2.23 billion, or $0.54 per share. Excluding items, the company earned $0.89 per share for the quarter. Its revenue rose 3.2 percent to $34.25 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.88 per share on revenue of $34.06 billion.
Equities Trading UP Plexus Corp.PLXS
shares shot up 11 percent to $33.00 as the company reported better-than-expected FQ1 results. Shares of
SLM CorpSLM
got a boost, shooting up 12 percent to $6.05 after the company reported upbeat Q4 earnings.
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Kinder Morgan IncKMI
shares were also up, gaining 15 percent to $13.84. Kinder Morgan reported fourth-quarter cash flow per common share of $0.55 before certain items, and sales of $3.64 billion.
Equities Trading DOWN Alkermes PlcALKS
shares dropped 43 percent to $34.30 following announcement of failed depression drug trial. Cowen & Company downgraded Alkermes from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered the price target from $80.00 to $50.00. Shares of
Engility Holdings, Inc.EGL
were down 45 percent to $15.81 after the company issued a weak FY16 outlook.
Unifi, Inc.UFI
was down, falling around 8 percent to $23.77. Unifi reported adjusted earnings of $0.37 per share on revenue of $156.3 million in its fiscal second quarter.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 4.30 percent to $29.57, while gold traded down 0.45 percent to $1,101.20. Silver traded down 0.21 percent Thursday to $14.13, while copper rose 1.91 percent to $2.00.
Eurozone
European shares closed higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 1.93 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index gained 1.97 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index surged 4.20 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 1.94 percent, and the French CAC 40 gained 1.97 percent, while U.K. shares climbed 1.77 percent.
Economics
US initial jobless claims rose 10,000 to 293,000 in the latest week. However, economists were expecting claims to reach 278,000 in the week. US Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index rose to a reading of -3.50 in January, versus a prior reading of -5.90. However, economists were expecting a reading of -5.00. Supplies of natural gas slipped by 178 billion cubic feet for the week ended January 15, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. However, economists were expecting a drop of 184 billion cubic feet. US crude oil supplies rose by 4 million barrels for the week ended January 15, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said. However, economists were projecting a gain of 2.81 million barrels. Gasoline supplies gained 4.6 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles declined 1 million barrels last week.
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