Mid-Day Market Update: At Home Drops On Downbeat Earnings; La Jolla Pharmaceutical Shares Jump

Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.28 percent to 25,610 while the NASDAQ fell 0.05 percent to 7,571. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.18 percent to 2,831.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares rose 1.3 percent on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited TNP, up 6 percent, and GeoPark Limited GPRK, up 4 percent.

In trading on Thursday, industrial shares fell by 0.5 percent.

Top Headline

Ciena Corporation CIEN reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its second quarter.

Ciena's adjusted earnings came in at 48 cents per share, which beat the estimate of 41 cents. Ciena reported second-quarter sales of $865 million, which beat the $819 million estimate.

Equities Trading UP

La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company LJPC shares shot up 42 percent to $7.56 after the company's Phase 2 Study of LJPC-401 in patients with hereditary hemochromatosis showed statistical significance in primary and secondary endpoints and was well tolerated.

Shares of ContraVir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. CTRV got a boost, shooting up 124 percent to $11.20 after the company showed results from preclinical study of CRV431 'significantly decreased the extent of fibrosis in a second animal model of liver fibrosis.'

Ciena Corporation CIEN shares were also up, gaining 26 percent to $45.03 after the company reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its second quarter.

Equities Trading DOWN

At Home Group Inc HOME shares tumbled 48 percent to $9.13 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q2 EPS results and cut FY20 EPS guidance.

Shares of Motif Bio plc MTFB were down 47 percent to $1.0647 after the FDA indicated that an additional clinical trial of Iclaprim will be required before the agency can grant the company marketing approval for the drug, citing concerns about liver toxicity.

Eros International Plc EROS was down, falling 59 percent to $3.00 after CARE Ratings downgraded the company's credit rating from 'BBB-' to 'D' (default).

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.3 percent to $51.53, while gold traded up 0.7 percent to $1,342.40.

Silver traded up 1 percent Thursday to $14.935, while copper rose 0.3 percent to $2.631.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.25 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.13 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index fell 0.36 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX dropped 0.67 percent, and the French CAC 40 fell 0.51 percent while UK shares rose 0.6 percent.

Economics

U.S. initial jobless claims were unchanged at 218,000 for the latest week. Economists were expecting a reading of 215,000.

The U.S. trade deficit declined 2.1 percent to $50.8 billion in April, compared to revised $51.9 billion in March. However, economists projected a $50.7 billion deficit. Exports fell 2.2 percent to $206.8 billion, while imports slipped 2.2 percent to $257.6 billion in April.

U.S. nonfarm productivity increased at an annual pace of 3.4 percent in the first quarter, versus economists’ expectations for a 3.5 percent growth.

Domestic supplies of natural gas climbed 119 billion cubic feet for the week ended May 31, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts projected a gain of 111 billion cubic feet.

New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams will speak in New York at 1:00 p.m. ET.

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