TRENDING:

XAU/USD

Silver

Mid-day market update: Gold rises 1.7%; Triterras shares plummet

Benzinga Team Benzinga

Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.33% to 30,252.88 while the NASDAQ rose 0.48% to 12,718.52. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.34% to 3,713.93.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 16,980,840 cases with around 307,510 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 9,956,550 confirmed cases and 144,450 deaths, while Brazil reported over 7,040,600 COVID-19 cases with 183,730 deaths. In total, there were at least 74,346,880 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 1,651,730 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares climbed 0.9% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Korea Electric Power Corporation KEP 11.67%, up 12%, and Kenon Holdings Ltd NYSEKEN, up 4%.

In trading on Thursday, energy shares fell 0.7%.

Top Headline

Accenture plc CAN 16.26% reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter on Thursday.

Accenture posted quarterly earnings of $2.17 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $2.05 per share. The company’s quarterly sales came in at $11.76 billion, versus expectations of $11.36 billion.

Accenture said it expects Q2 sales of $11.55 billion to $11.95 billion, versus estimates of $11.35 billion. The company projects FY21 adjusted EPS of $8.02-$8.25, versus analysts’ expectations of $8.05.

Equities Trading UP

Scopus BioPharma Inc. SCPS 519.93% shares shot up 498% to $35.42. Scopus BioPharma’s filing showed registration for 500,000 share common stock offering. Scopus Biopharma shares gained around 8% on Wednesday after the company priced its IPO at $5.5 per share.

Shares of Oriental Culture Holding Ltd OCG 77.87% got a boost, shooting 78% to $10.84 as a potential post IPO volatility. Oriental Cultural, on Tuesday, priced its IPO at $4 per share.

Wunong Net Technology Company Limited WNW 80.72% shares were also up, gaining 96% to $127.57 after jumping 440% on Wednesday. The company, on Tuesday, priced its IPO at $5 per share.

Equities Trading DOWN

Triterras Inc TRIT 36.97% shares tumbled 37% to $8.37 after confirming it informed a statutory demand for payment was made to Antanium Resources in Singapore. Triterras said in a regulatory filing it was informed that a statutory demand for payment from Antainium Resources (formerly known as Rhodium Resources) was filed by a creditor of Rhodium on Dec. 1.

Shares of BioCardia Inc BCDA 25.34% were down 25% to $4.3288. BioCardia disclosed positive DSMB review and recommendation to continue Phase III pivotal CardiAMP heart failure study as designed. BioCardia recently reported a 1.789 million share registered direct offering priced at $4.75 per share.

SCYNEXIS, Inc. SCYX 18.14% was down, falling 18% to $6.01 after the company announced the launch of $50 million common stock and warrant offering.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.8% to $48.22, while gold traded up 1.7% to $1,890.20.

Silver traded up 4.2% Thursday to $26.105 while copper rose 1% to $3.5955.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.3%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.17%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 0.12%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 gained 0.75%, French CAC 40 gained 0.03% and London’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.3%.

Eurozone consumer prices declined for a third straight month by 0.3% year-over-year in November, while French manufacturing climate indicator rose to 93 in December versus 92 in November.

Economics

US housing starts rose 1.2% to an annual rate of 1.547 million in November, while building permits rose 6.2% to 1.639 million.

US initial jobless claims climbed to 885,000 in the week ended December 12, versus a revised level of 862,000 in the prior week

The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index declined to 11.1 in December versus 26.3 in November.

US natural-gas supplies dropped 122 billion cubic feet last week, the Energy Information Administration said.

The Kansas City Fed's manufacturing production index declined by 8 points to a reading of 12 in December.

Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Author

Benzinga Team

Benzinga

Benzinga's news desk is a dynamic and innovative team that provides real-time, actionable articles that help readers navigate the market.

EUR/USD flirts with daily highs, retargets 1.1900

EUR/USD regains upside traction, returning to the 1.1880 zone and refocusing its attention to the key 1.1900 barrier. The pair’s slight gains comes against the backdrop of a humble decline in the US Dollar as investors continue to assess the latest US CPI readings and the potential Fed’s rate path.

GBP/USD remains well bid around 1.3650

GBP/USD maintains its upside momentum in place, hovering around daily highs near 1.3650 and setting aside part of the recent three-day drop. Cable’s improved sentiment comes on the back of the Greenback’s irresolute price action, while recent hawkish comments from the BoE’s Pill also collaborate with the uptick.

Gold holds above $5,000 as bears seem hesitant amid Fed rate cut bets

Gold edges lower at the start of a new week, though it defends the $5,000 psychological mark through the Asian session. The underlying bullish sentiment is seen acting as a headwind for the bullion. However, bets for more rate cuts by the Fed, bolstered by Friday's softer US CPI, keep the US Dollar bulls on the defensive and continue to support the non-yielding yellow metal as the focus now shifts to FOMC Minutes on Wednesday.

Week ahead: Data blitz, Fed Minutes and RBNZ decision in the spotlight

The US jobs report for January, which was delayed slightly, didn’t do the dovish Fed bets any favours, as expectations of a soft print did not materialize, confounding the raft of weak job indicators seen in the prior week.

Global inflation watch: Signs of cooling services inflation

Realized inflation landed close to expectations in January, as negative base effects weighed on the annual rates. Remaining sticky inflation is largely explained by services, while tariff-driven goods inflation remains limited even in the US.

Ripple Price Forecast: XRP potential bottom could be in sight

Ripple edges up above the intraday low of $1.35 at the time of writing on Friday amid mixed price actions across the crypto market. The remittance token failed to hold support at $1.40 the previous day, reflecting risk-off sentiment amid a decline in retail and institutional sentiment.