Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Rise; Dollar Tree Profit Beats Estimates

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.27% to 25617.22 while the NASDAQ rose 0.31% to 9441.99. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.31% to 3045.65.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 1,699,930 cases with around 100,440 deaths. Brazil confirmed a total of over 411,820 COVID-19 cases with 25,590 deaths, while Russia reported a total of at least 379,050 confirmed cases and 4,140 deaths. In total, there were at least 5,716,570 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 356,130 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares climbed 2.1% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Chesapeake Utilities Corporation CPK, up 3%, and American Electric Power Company, Inc. AEP, up 3%.

In trading on Thursday, energy shares fell 1.6%.

Top Headline

Dollar Tree, Inc. DLTR reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter.

Dollar Tree reported quarterly earnings of $1.04 per share on Thursday, which exceeded the analyst consensus estimate for earnings of $0.91 per share. The company reported quarterly sales of $6.29 billion, versus the analyst consensus estimate of $6.11 billion.

Equities Trading UP

ARCA biopharma, Inc. ABIO shares shot up 101% to $7.93 after the company announced the development program for its AB201 treatment of coronavirus associated with coagulopathy.

Shares of Technical Communications Corporation TCCO got a boost, shooting 44% to $3.66 after the company reported results for its second quarter.

PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. PHAS shares were also up, gaining 39% to $6.13 after the company announced FDA authorization to proceed with VANGARD, a potentially pivotal clinical trial to evaluate PB1046 as a treatment for hospitalized COVID-19 patients who are at high risk for rapid clinical deterioration and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Equities Trading DOWN

Greenpro Capital Corp. GRNQ shares tumbled 16% to $2.17. Greenpro shares jumped 212% on Wednesday after the company signed an agreement to acquire part of Millennium Sapphire.

Shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. IOVA were down 12% to $33.54 after the company announced a $500 million proposed public offering of common stock.

HP Inc. HPQ was down, falling 11% to $15.17 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q2 sales. The company also issued Q3 adjusted EPS guidance below estimates.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 0.7% to $32.58, while gold traded up 0.8% to $1,724.30.

Silver traded up 1% Thursday to $17.925, while copper rose 0.4% to $2.392.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 surged 1.2%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.2%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 1.8%. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.6%, and the French CAC 40 climbed 1.2% while UK shares rose 1.1%.

Economics

U.S. durable goods orders dipped 17.2% in April, versus economists’ expectations for a 18.2% drop.

The U.S. economy shrank at an annual pace of 5% in the first quarter.

Around 2.1 million persons filed for unemployment benefits in the week ended May 23, compared to 2.4 million claims in the previous week.

The pending home sales index dropped 21.8% for April.

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 manufacturing index for May will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET. The index is projected to decline to a reading of minus 34.

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams is set to speak at 11:00 a.m. ET.

The Treasury is set to auction 4-and 8-week bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.

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

The Treasury will auction 7-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

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