Mid-afternoon market update: Dow jumps over 300 points, Portage biotech shares slide

Toward the end of trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 1.03% to 34,222.59 while the NASDAQ rose 0.74% to 14,377.16. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.67% to 4,270.15.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 33,577,710 cases with around 602,830 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 30,082,770 cases and 391,980 deaths, while Brazil reported over 18,169,880 COVID-19 cases with 507,100 deaths. In total, there were at least 179,635,440 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 3,892,810 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Financial shares rose by 1.3% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included X Financial XYF 19.75%, up 20%, and Westwood Holdings Group, Inc. WHG 8.18%, up 8%.

In trading on Thursday, real estate shares fell 0.5%.

Top Headline

Accenture plc ACN 2.1% reported stronger-than-expected results for its third quarter and raised its FY21 guidance.

Accenture reported quarterly earnings of $2.40 per share, exceeding analysts’ estimates of $2.23 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $13.30 billion, versus expectations of $12.80 billion.

Accenture said it now expects FY21 EPS of $8.71-$8.80, versus earlier guidance of $8.32-$8.50. The company also boosted its FY21 sales forecast from 6.5%-8.5% to 10%-11%.

Equities Trading UP

Digital Brands Group, Inc. DBGI 36.19% shares shot up 36% to $5.56 on heavy volume after the company announced it is expanding its commerce ecosystem by launching a select group of brands on Amazon this Fall.

Shares of Marin Software Incorporated MRIN 63.25% got a boost, shooting 63% to $2.7799 after the company announced it has added the ability to manage Instacart Ads to its flagship MarinOne platform.

Miromatrix Medical Inc. NASDAQMIRO shares were also up, gaining 68% to $15.10 after the company reported pricing of upsized initial public offering.

Equities Trading DOWN

Portage Biotech Inc. PRTG 26.74% shares tumbled 27% to $25.50 after the company reported pricing of public offering of 1 million ordinary shares at $23 per share.

Shares of Rite Aid Corporation RAD 14.5% were down 14% to $17.51 after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q1 sales.

Vinco Ventures, Inc. BBIG 11.31% was down, falling 12% to $4.2299 after the company announced it will spin out its Emmersive Entertainment unit.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.3% to $73.33, while gold traded down 0.3% to $1,777.70.

Silver traded down 0.1% Thursday to $26.075 while copper fell 0.1% to $4.3250.

Euro zone

European shares closed higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 gained 0.87%, the Spanish Ibex Index climbed 1.34% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.86%. Meanwhile, the London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.51%, French CAC 40 climbed 1.22% and Italy’s FTSE MIB surged 1.38%.

German Ifo Business Climate indicator increased 2.6% to 101.8 in June, while French manufacturing climate indicator came in unchanged at 107 in June. Spanish gross domestic product contracted 0.4% on quarter during the first three months of the year.

Economics

US durable goods orders rose 2.3% month-over-month in May.

The US economy expanded by an annualized 6.4% in the first quarter.

The US goods trade deficit increased to $88.1 billion in May versus a revised $85.7 billion gap in the prior month.

US initial jobless claims dropped to 411,000 in the week ending June 19th, versus a revised 418,000 in the prior period.

Wholesale inventories rose 1.1% to $707.5 billion in May.

US natural-gas supplies climbed 55 billion cubic feet last week, the Energy Information Administration said.

The Kansas City Fed's Manufacturing Production Index fell to 30 in June from 32 in the earlier month..