Mid-day market update: Qualtrics International jumps after Q1 results; Evolus shares slide

Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.26% to 34,047.37 while the NASDAQ rose 0.26% to 13,986.13. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.03% to 4,172.30.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 31,862,980 cases with around 569,400 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 15,930,770 cases and 184,650 deaths, while Brazil reported over 14,122,790 COVID-19 cases with 381,470 deaths. In total, there were at least 143,962,150 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 3,061,470 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares rose 0.3% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Takung Art Co., Ltd. TKAT 31.9%, up 25%, and Glory Star New Media Group Holdings Limited GSMG 2.8%, up 15%.

In trading on Thursday, materials shares fell 1.1%.

Top Headline

AT&T Inc. T 4.52% reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter.

AT&T reported quarterly earnings of $0.86 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $0.78 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $43.94 billion, versus expectations of $42.69 billion.

AT&T expects a 1% annual consolidated revenue growth and stable EPS with FY20.

Equities Trading UP

Teradata Corporation TDC 28% shares shot up 32% to $52.53 after the company boosted its Q1 earnings guidance.

Shares of Renalytix AI plc RNLX 23.83% got a boost, shooting 21% to $30.64 after the company announced that the U.S. government has granted the company a 10-year Governmentwide Acquisition Contract to provide KidneyIntelX early stage kidney disease bioprognostic testing services.

Qualtrics International Inc. XM 24.99% shares were also up, gaining 19% to $40.15 after the company reported upbeat quarterly results.

Check out these big movers of the day

Equities Trading DOWN

Evolus, Inc. EOLS 18.81% shares tumbled 18% to $9.60 after the company priced its public offering of 9 million shares of its common stock at a price of $9.50 per share for raising gross proceeds of about $85.5 million.

Shares of Sleep Number Corporation SNBR 9.8% were down 12% to $109.47 after the company reported Q1 earnings results.

SEI Investments Company SEIC 10.03% was down, falling 9% to $57.04 following Q1 results. Morgan Stanley maintained SEI Investments with an Equal-Weight and lowered the price target from $75 to $74.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.4% to $61.09, while gold traded down 0.4% to $1,786.80.

Silver traded down 0.8% Thursday to $26.35 while copper rose 0.1% to $4.2795.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.66%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.52% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.78%. Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 rose 0.99% London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.47% and Italy’s FTSE MIB gained 0.98%.

Italy's industrial sales increased 0.2% in February following a revised 2.6% rise in January. French manufacturing climate indicator climbed to 104 in April from a revised reading of 99 in March. Eurozone’s government deficit to GDP ratio climbed to 7.2% in 2020 compared to 0.6% in 2019. UK’s CBI's quarterly gauge of manufacturing optimism surged to 38 in the second quarter, compared to -22 in the earlier three-month period.

Economics

US initial jobless claims fell to 547,000 in the week ending April 17th.

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index surged to 1.71 in March from a revised reading of -1.2 in February.

US existing home sales dropped 3.7% to an annual rate of 6.01 million for March.

The index of leading economic indicators increased 1.3% for March.

US natural-gas supplies climbed 38 billion cubic feet last week, the Energy Information Administration said.

The Kansas City Fed's manufacturing index for April is scheduled for release at 11:00 a.m. ET.