U.S. stocks were a mixed bag in late trades today, with the Nasdaq Composite making a surprising rally.
The Dow took a hit, down 0.53% to 37,484.13, while the NASDAQ climbed 0.15% to 14,866.50. The S&P 500 slid 0.17% to 4,755.48.
Sector Standouts
Information technology shares showed a 0.3% uptick today, while energy shares took a 1.6% tumble.
Company Spotlight
Albertsons Companies Inc ACI outperformed expectations with its third-quarter results.
Albertsons Companies revealed third-quarter FY23 sales growth, surpassing estimates at $18.56 billion. The adjusted EPS of $0.79 also exceeded predictions.
Winners and Losers
Cutera, Inc. CUTR saw its shares skyrocket by 32% to $4.35 after announcing preliminary FY23 revenue guidance above previous estimates.
Meanwhile, shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. JNPR surged 22%, hitting $36.96. The reported acquisition talks with Hewlett Packard Enterprise CoHPE also fueled the surge. Also on the rise, shares of Accolade, Inc. ACCD increased by 25% to $14.48 following third-quarter results.
Conversely, in a Downward Spiral
Grifols, S.A. GRFS plummeted 24% to $8.47 following a damning report from Gotham City Research titled “Grifols SA: Scranton and the Undisclosed Debts.”
Additionally, shares of The Container Store Group, Inc. TCS dipped 12% to $2.0250. The Container Store Group scaled down its expectations with third-quarter net sales anticipated to be $214 million versus the previous estimate of $225.38 million.
Not to be left out, JetBlue Airways CorporationJBLU plunged 10% to $5.20 as the airline announced a change in leadership. B of A Securities analyst Andrew Didora followed this news by downgrading JetBlue Airways from Neutral to Underperform and slashing the price target.
Commodities Landscape
In the commodities arena, oil saw a solid 2.7% surge to $72.71, and gold climbed 0.1% to $2,034.00.
On the other hand, silver slumped 0.9% to $23.095, while copper took a hit, falling 1.4% to $3.7575.
European Unrest
European shares wrapped up the day in the red, with the eurozone’s STOXX 600 dropping 0.19%. The FTSE 100, IBEX 35, and DAX also saw declines, as did the French CAC 40 and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index. Industrial production in Germany noted a 0.7% month-over-month decrease in November, and retail sales in the UK experienced a 1.9% uptick from a year earlier in December. Italy’s unemployment rate fell to 7.5% in November, and French current account and trade deficits both narrowed.
Asian Markets’ Movements
Asian markets painted a mixed picture today, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 1.16%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index falling 0.21%, and China’s Shanghai Composite Index on the rise by 0.20%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex saw a modest climb of 0.04%. Household spending in Japan took a 2.9% year-over-year hit in November.
Economic Snapshot
The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index saw an uptick to 91.9 in December from 90.6 in November. The US trade gap dwindled to $63.2 billion in November, a drop from the $64.5 billion in the previous month and below the expected $65 billion gap. Lastly, the RealClearMarkets/TIPP Economic Optimism Index rose to 44.7 in January from 40 in December.
