Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Nasdaq Down 2.5%; Calliditas Therapeutics Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.05% to 35,946.32 while the NASDAQ fell 2.5% to 15,179.38. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.80% to 4,672.38.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 51,290,970 cases with around 823,390 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 34,718,660 cases and 476,470 deaths, while Brazil reported over 22,201,220 COVID-19 cases with 617,340 deaths. In total, there were at least 272,585,360 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 5,348,470 deaths.


Leading and Lagging Sectors


Energy shares climbed 2.2% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Borr Drilling Limited BORR, up 14% and Brooge Energy Limited BROG up 9%.


In trading on Thursday, information technology shares fell 2.2%.


Top Headline


Accenture plc ACN reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter and raised its FY22 guidance.

Accenture reported quarterly earnings of $2.78 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $2.36 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $14.97 billion, versus expectations of $12.61 billion.

Accenture boosted its FY22 EPS guidance from $9.90-$10.18 to $10.32-$10.60. The company said it expects Q2 sales of $14.3 billion to $14.75 billion, versus analysts’ estimates of $12.48 billion.

 

Equities Trading UP


Calliditas Therapeutics AB CALT shares shot up 24% to $23.26 after the company announced it was granted by the FDA accelerated approval of TARPEYO to reduce proteinuria in lgA nephropathy.


Shares of Zai Lab Limited ZLAB got a boost, shooting 16% to $63.94 after the company announced China has approved NUZYRA as a category 1 innovative drug for the treatment of community acquired bacterial pneumonia and acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections.


Adagio Therapeutics, Inc. ADGI shares were also up, gaining 109% to $13.28. Traders circulated reiterated buy rating and $46 price target from Jefferies.


Check out these big movers of the day


Equities Trading DOWN

IronNet, Inc. IRNT shares tumbled 29% to $4.82 after the company said Q3 sales results were lower year over year. Needham downgraded IronNet from Buy to Hold.


Shares of Bakkt Holdings, Inc. BKKT were down 28% to $9.86 after the company reported a mixed shelf offering.


uniQure N.V. QURE was down, falling 27% to $21.04 after the company reported clinical update on first patients in Phase I/II clinical trial of AMT-130 gene therapy for the treatment of Huntington's disease.


Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2.5% to $72.67, while gold traded up 1.9% to $1,798.30.


Silver traded up 4.6% Thursday to $22.525 while copper rose 3% to $4.3085.


Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 1.23%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.27% and the German DAX 30 climbed 1.03%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 gained 1.25%, French CAC 40 climbed 1.12% and Italy’s FTSE MIB gained 0.44%.

The IHS Markit Eurozone manufacturing PMI declined to 58 in December from 58.4 in November, while services PMI fell to 53.3 from 55.9. Italy’s trade surplus shrank to EUR 3.888 billion in October from EUR 7.587 billion in the year-ago month.

The IHS Markit/CIPS UK Manufacturing PMI fell to a 3-month low of 57.6 in December, while composite PMI fell to 53.2 in December. German composite PMI dropped to 50 in December from 52.2 in the prior month, while French composite PMI declined to 55.6 in December.


Economics


Housing starts increased 11.8% to an annualized rate of 1.679 million in November, while building permits rose 3.6% to an annual rate of 1.712 million.


US initial jobless claims rose by 18 thousand to 206 thousand in the week ended December 11, compared to an over five-decade low level of 188 thousand in the prior period.


The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index dropped to 15.4 in December from a seven-month high level of 39 in the previous month.


Industrial production increased 0.5% from a month ago in November.


The IHS Markit services PMI fell to 57.5 in December from 58.0 in the prior month, while manufacturing PMI slipped to 57.8 from 58.3.


US natural-gas supplies dropped 88 billion cubic feet last week, the Energy Information Administration said.


Check out the full economic calendar here

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