Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 1.38% to 34,732.57 while the NASDAQ rose 0.97% to 15,041.00. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.22% to 4,449.12.
The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 42,545,220 cases with around 681,190 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 33,563,420 cases and 446,050 deaths, while Brazil reported over 21,283,560 COVID-19 cases with 592,310 deaths. In total, there were at least 230,147,170 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 4,720,430 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Financials shares jumped 2% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Valley National Bancorp VLY, up 5% and Value Line, Inc. VALU up 5%.
In trading on Thursday, real estate shares rose by just 0.4%.
Top Headline
Accenture plc ACN reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter on Thursday.
Accenture reported quarterly earnings of $2.20 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $2.19 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $13.40 billion, versus analysts’ expectations of $13.42 billion. Accenture also raised its quarterly dividend from $0.88 to $0.97 per share.
Accenture repurchased shares worth $915 million in Q4. The board approved $3.0 billion of additional share repurchase. Accenture said it sees Q1 sales of $13.9 billion to $14.35 billion, versus estimates of $13.51 billion.
Equities Trading UP
MEDIROM Healthcare Technologies Inc. MRM shares shot up 101% to $14.87 following news the company will buy ZACC Kabushiki Kaisha for $3.362 million.
Shares of TransCode Therapeutics, Inc. RNAZ got a boost, shooting 55% to $4.0566 after the company highlights publication in Cancer Nanotechnology of preclinical data supporting therapeutic potential of TTX-MC138 in metastatic breast cancer.
Amplitude Healthcare Acquisition Corporation AMHC shares were also up, gaining 34% to $13.69. The company announced shareholders approved the business combination with Jasper Therapeutics.
Check out these big movers of the day
Equities Trading DOWN
Eargo, Inc. EAR shares tumbled 69% to $6.75 after the company disclosed it was the target of a Dept. of Justice criminal investigation. The company also withdrew its FY21 guidance. JP Morgan and Wells Fargo also downgraded the stock.
Shares of China Liberal Education Holdings Limited CLEU were down 38% to $1.84 after gaining over 3% on Wednesday.
Aterian, Inc. ATER was down, falling 26% to $12.36. Aterian reported a seal with Lender High Trail to pay down outstanding secured term debt of $66.3 million plus accrued, unpaid interest.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.5% to $71.90, while gold traded down 0.3% to $1,772.70.
Silver traded down 0.7% Thursday to $22.74 while copper fell 0.5% to $4.2295.
Euro zone
European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 1.1%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.9% and the German DAX 30 gained 1.2%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.5%, French CAC 40 jumped 1.2% and Italy’s FTSE MIB climbed 1.3%.
The IHS Markit Eurozone manufacturing PMI declined to 58.7 in September from August’s reading of 61.4, while services PMI slipped to 56.3 from 59.
The UK flash composite PMI slipped to 54.1 in September from 54.8 in August, while French composite PMI declined to 55.1 from 55.9. German composite PMI dropped to 55.3 in September versus 60 in August. Spanish gross domestic product grew 1.1% on quarter during the three months to June.
Economics
US initial jobless claims rose to 351,000 in the week ending September 18.
The Chicago Fed National Activity Index dropped to 0.29 in August from a revised reading of 0.75 in July.
The IHS Markit services PMI dropped to 54.4 in September from 55.1 in August, while manufacturing PMI declined to 60.5 in September from 61.1 in August.
The index of leading economic indicators for August is scheduled for release at 10:00 a.m. ET. After July's 0.9% growth, a 0.6% rise is expected for August.
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 September will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET. Analysts expect the Kansas City index steady at 29 in September.
The Treasury is set to auction 4-and 8-week bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.
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