Courtesy of Benzinga.
Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.31 percent to 16,387.36 while the NASDAQ dropped 0.06 percent to 4,501.51. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.08 percent to 1,914.05.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
On Thursday, basic materials shares surged by 3.74 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Century Aluminum Co (NASDAQ: CENX), up 21 percent, and Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE: FCX) up 20 percent.
In trading on Thursday, healthcare shares fell by 0.90 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ: PACB), down 21 percent, and Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: OSIR), down 11 percent.
Top Headline
ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) reported weaker-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.
ConocoPhillips said that it lost $0.90 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $6.77 billion. Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to lose $0.52 per share on revenue of $9.08 billion.
ConocoPhillips announced revisions to its 2016 operating plan. The company lowered its capital expenditures guidance to $6.4 billion from a previous $7.7 billion and operating cost guidance to $7.0 billion from $7.7 billion. ConocoPhillips also slashed its quarterly dividend to $0.25 per share from a previous quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share.
Equities Trading UP
Glu Mobile Inc. (NASDAQ: GLUU) shares shot up 27 percent to $2.56 after the company reported upbeat quarterly results. Management said it had signed exclusive partnerships with Taylor Swift and Gordon Ramsay, and the Board approved a stock repurchase program to buy up to $50 million in stock.
Shares of Carpenter Technology Corporation (NYSE: CRS) got a boost, shooting up 14 percent to $30.56 after the company reported Q2 results. Carpenter Technology reported Q2 earnings of $0.24 per share on revenue of $443.8 million.
Roadrunner Transportation Systems Inc (NYSE: RRTS) shares were also up, gaining 41 percent to $11.12 as the company reported stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings.
Equities Trading DOWN
GoPro Inc (NASDAQ: GPRO) shares dropped 9 percent to $9.78 after the company reported weaker-than-expected results for the fourth quarter and issued a downbeat revenue forecast for the current quarter. The company also named Brian McGee as its new chief financial officer.
Shares of Ralph Lauren Corp (NYSE: RL) were down 17 percent to $95.42. Ralph Lauren reported upbeat fiscal third-quarter earnings, but the company missed analysts’ sales expectations. The company also lowered its full-year guidance.
Resolute Forest Products Inc (NYSE: RFP) was down, falling around 27 percent to $3.87. Resolute reported a preliminary Q4 loss of $0.29 per share on revenue of $894 million.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.84 percent to $32.55, while gold traded up 1.13 percent to $1,154.20.
Silver traded up 0.79 percent Thursday to $14.85, while copper rose 1.26 percent to $2.12.
Eurozone
European shares were mixed today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.02 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index surged 1.91 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 1.31 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 0.04 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.99 percent, while U.K. shares rose 1.38 percent.
Economics
US jobless claims increased by 8,000 to 285,000 in the week ended January 30. However, economists were expecting claims to reach 280,000 in the week.
US nonfarm productivity declined at an annual rate of 3 percent in the fourth quarter, while unit-labor costs increased at 4.5 percent.
US factory orders declined 2.90 percent in December, versus economists’ expectations for a 2.80 percent drop.
Supplies of natural gas dropped 152 billion cubic feet for the week ended January 29, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said. However, analysts were expecting a decline of 158 billion cubic feet.
Posted-In: Earnings News Guidance Eurozone Commodities Global Intraday Update Markets
