Nasdaq Rises Over 100 Points; Accenture Shares Fall After Q4 Results

U.S. stocks traded higher toward the end of trading, with the Dow Jones gaining over 100 points on Thursday.

The Dow traded up 0.40% to 33,683.43 while the NASDAQ rose 0.95% to 13,217.46. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.69% to 4,303.95.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares rose by 1.4% on Thursday.

In trading on Thursday, utilities shares fell by 1.4%.

Top Headline

Shares of Accenture ACN fell more than 4% on Thursday after the company reported mixed fourth-quarter financial results and issued weak FY24 adjusted EPS guidance.

The company reported quarterly revenue growth of 4% Y/Y to $15.98 billion, missing the consensus of $16.07 billion. Adjusted EPS of $2.71 beat the consensus of $2.66.

Accenture expects FY24 revenue growth of 2%-5% in local currency and adjusted EPS of $11.97-$12.32 vs. consensus of $12.46.

Equities Trading UP

Bionomics Limited BNOX shares shot up 280% to $3.7202 after the company announced the ATTUNE trial met its primary endpoint showing BNC210 treatment led to a statistically significant reduction in total PTSD symptom severity at 12 weeks.

Shares of Baudax Bio, Inc. BXRX got a boost, shooting 69% to $0.5060 after the company announced it was granted orphan drug designation by the FDA for TI-168 for the treatment of Hemophilia A with inhibitors.

Chico's FAS, Inc. CHS shares were also up, gaining 63% to $7.49 following the announcement of its acquisition by Sycamore Partners for $1 billion.

Equities Trading DOWN

Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. ASTI shares dropped 62% to $2.0799 after the company announced pricing of a public offering of units.

Shares of Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics Inc. BCLI were down 52% to $0.1897 after the company announced the FDA Advisory Committee voted that NurOwn did not demonstrate substantial evidence of effectiveness for treatment of mild to moderate ALS.

Renalytix Plc RNLX was down, falling 21% to $1.5501 after the company announced weak FY23 sales and issued FY24 guidance.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 2.2% to $91.62 while gold traded down 0.5% at $1,880.60.

Silver traded up 0.1% to $22.74 on Thursday while copper rose 1.9% to $3.7070.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.36% London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.11% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 1.02% The German DAX rose 0.70% French CAC 40 rose 0.63%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index rose 0.54%.

The industry confidence indicator in the Eurozone improved to -9.0 in September from -9.9 in the prior month, while economic sentiment indicator fell to 93.3 in September from a revised reading of 93.6 a month ago. The consumer confidence indicator was confirmed at -17.8 for September.

Spain's retail trade increased by 7.2% year-over-year for August, while annual inflation rate increased for the third consecutive month to 3.5% in September.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly lower on Thursday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 falling 1.54%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index falling 1.36% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index gaining 0.10%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex, meanwhile, fell 0.9%.

India’s current account deficit shrank to $9.2 billion in the second quarter from $17.9 billion in the year-ago period, while retail sales in Australia rose by 0.2% month-over-month in August.

Economics

U.S. jobless claims rose by 2,000 to 204,000 in the week ending Sept. 23, versus market expectations of 215,000.

The U.S. economy expanded at an annualized rate of 2.1% during the second quarter, unchanged versus the prior estimate, and versus revised 2.2% expansion in the first quarter.

Pending home sales in the U.S. fell by 7.1% month-over-month in August, versus market expectations for a 0.8% decline.

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COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 108,670,700 cases with around 1,176,590 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,998,650 cases and 531,930 deaths, while France reported over 40,138,560 COVID-19 cases with 167,640 deaths. In total, there were at least 695,871,940 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,920,660 deaths.