Toward the end of trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.49% to 33,143.12 while the NASDAQ rose 1.56% to 13,454.06. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.97% to 4,011.57.
The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 30,460,830 cases with around 552,070 deaths. Brazil reported over 12,748,740 COVID-19 cases with 321,510 deaths, while India confirmed a total of at least 12,221,660 cases and 162,920 deaths. In total, there were at least 129,006,800 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 2,817,930 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Energy shares rose 2.1% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Earthstone Energy, Inc. ESTE, up 30%, and Green Plains Inc. GPRE, up 14%.
In trading on Thursday, utilities shares fell 0.5%.
Top Headline
CarMax, Inc. KMX reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.
CarMax posted quarterly earnings of $1.27 per share, exceeding analysts’ estimates of $1.26 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $5.16 billion, versus expectations of $5.17 billion.
CarMax also announced plans to acquire remaining stake in Edmunds for $404 million.
Equities Trading UP
Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings, Inc. LTRPB shares shot up 73% to $64.05 after climbing 42% on Wednesday.
Shares of Universe Pharmaceuticals INC UPC got a boost, shooting 40% to $5.63. Universe Pharmaceuticals reported full exercise of underwriter's over-allotment option in the public offering.
Applied Molecular Transport Inc. AMTI shares were also up, gaining 32% to $58.15 as the company priced an underwritten public offering of 2,500,000 shares at $42.00 per share.
Check out these big movers of the day
Equities Trading DOWN
Akumin Inc. AKU shares tumbled 10% to $3.3350 after the company reported Q4 results and issued 2021 forecast.
Shares of AzurRx BioPharma, Inc. AZRX were down 29% to $0.9561 after the company reported topline results from its Phase 2b OPTION 2 trial evaluating MS1819 in cystic fibrosis patients with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. MS1819 demonstrated to be safe and well-tolerated. However, the study did not consistently meet the primary efficacy endpoint.
BioXcel Therapeutics, Inc. BTAI was down, falling 14% to $37.06 after the company reported topline results from the Phase 1b/2 proof-of-concept study of its investigational asset BXCL501 that is being evaluated for the treatment of opioid withdrawal symptoms.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 3.9% to $61.47, while gold traded up 0.8% to $1,728.90.
Silver traded up 1.7% Thursday to $24.950 while copper rose 0.1% to $3.9980.
Euro zone
European shares closed mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.61%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.03% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.66%. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 rose 0.59%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.35% and Italy’s FTSE MIB gained 0.25%.
The Eurozone manufacturing PMI was revised higher to 62.5 for March versus a preliminary reading of 62.4. The UK’s manufacturing PMI increased to 58.9 in March from a preliminary reading of 57.9, while German manufacturing PMI rose to 66.6 in March from 60.7 in February.
French manufacturing PMI climbed to 59.3 in March from 56.1 in February, while Spain’s manufacturing PMI increased to 56.9 from 52.9.
Economics
US initial jobless claims climbed to 719,000 in the week ended March 27, from 658,000 in the prior week.
The IHS Markit manufacturing PMI was revised higher to 59.1 in March from a preliminary reading of 59.
The ISM manufacturing PMI surged to 64.7 in March from 60.8 in February.
US construction spending fell 0.8% for February.
US natural-gas supplies climbed 14 billion cubic feet last week, the Energy Information Administration said.
The total number of active U.S. oil rigs rose by 13 to 337 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported.
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan will speak at 6:05 p.m. ET.
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