Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Castor Maritime Rises After Q1 Earnings; FireEye Shares Slide

Toward the end of trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.11% to 34,638.95 while the NASDAQ fell 0.69% to 13,661.27. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.18% to 4,200.55.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 33,307,940 cases with around 595,830 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 28,441,980 cases and 337,980 deaths, while Brazil reported over 16,720,080 COVID-19 cases with 467,700 deaths. In total, there were at least 171,711,450 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 3,692,580 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.


Leading and Lagging Sectors


Energy shares climbed 0.6% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Tellurian Inc. TELL, up 27%, and Clean Energy Fuels Corp. CLNE, up 16%.


In trading on Thursday, communication services shares fell 0.7%.


Top Headline

The J. M. Smucker Company AAP reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.

Smucker reported quarterly earnings of $1.89 per share, exceeding analysts’ estimates of $1.67 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $1.92 billion, versus expectations of $1.88 billion.

JM Smucker said it expects FY22 adjusted earnings of $8.70 to $9.10 per share, versus analysts’ estimates of $8.60 per share. The company also projects FY22 sales down 3% to down 2%.

 

Equities Trading UP


Tellurian Inc. TELL shares shot up 26% to $5.47 after the company announced it signed a 10-year LNG agreement for 3 mtpa with Vitol.


Shares of Castor Maritime Inc. CTRM got a boost, shooting 17% to $3.6510 after the company swung to a profit in the first quarter.


Community Bankers Trust Corporation ESXB shares were also up, gaining 30% to $11.97 after United Bankshares announced it will acquire Community Bankers Trust.

Check out these big movers of the day


Equities Trading DOWN

FireEye, Inc. FEYE shares tumbled 16% to $18.94 after the company announced the sale of FireEye Products business to Symphony Technology Group for $1.2 billion.

Shares of Express, Inc. EXPR were down 22% to $5.11 after the company announced an at-the-market equity offering for up to 15 million shares.

Tian Ruixiang Holdings Ltd TIRX was down, falling 26% to $7.43 after the company priced its 4.8 million unit follow-on offering at $7.50 per unit.


Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded down 0.2% to $68.71, while gold traded down 2% to $1,872.60.


Silver traded down 2.7% Thursday to $27.43 while copper fell 3.1% to $4.4515.


Euro zone

European shares closed mostly lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 declined 0.12%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.42% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.19%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.61%, French CAC 40 fell 0.21% and Italy’s FTSE MIB gained 0.29%.

The IHS Markit Eurozone services PMI was revised higher to 55.2 in May from the preliminary reading of 55.1, while composite PMI also rose to 57.1 in May versus a preliminary estimate of 56.9.

German services PMI rose to 52.8 in May from 49.9 in April, while Spanish services PMI climbed to 59.4 in May from 54.6 in the prior month. French services PMI climbed to 56.6 in May compared to 50.3 in the previous month.


Economics


US-based companies reported 24,586 job cuts for May.


US private businesses hired 978,000 workers in May compared to revised 654,000 in April, the ADP said.


US initial jobless claims fell 20,000 to 385,000 in the week ending May 29.


Nonfarm labor productivity increased by an annualized 5.4% in the first quarter, while unit labor costs rose 1.7%.


The IHS Markit services PMI increased to 70.4 in May from a preliminary reading of 70.1.


The ISM services PMI rose to 64 in May from 62.7 in April.


US natural-gas supplies climbed 98 billion cubic feet last week, the Energy Information Administration reported.


US crude oil inventories dropped 5.1 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said.


Federal Reserve Governor Randal Quarles is set to speak at 3:05 p.m. ET.

Check out the full economic calendar here

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Posted In: EarningsNewsPenny StocksEurozoneCommoditiesSmall CapGlobalIntraday UpdateMarketsMid-Afternoon Market Update
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