Wall Street ended a rocky trading session in positive territory on Thursday, with market participants concerned over mixed corporate earnings and worsening economic data. The Labor Department reported that 5.245 million American had field for unemployment benefits during the week ending April 11, bringing the 4-week total to over 22 million. In addition, earnings reports from Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and Citigroup (NYSE: C) have shown the beginning of the coronavirus's impact on revenues for companies.
Despite negative economic data, benchmarks pared losses as many investors already expected jobless numbers and major earnings on Thursday were mostly positive. The Nasdaq led the major indices gains, with Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) leading the index.
Here's how the market closed on Thursday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): +0.58% or +16.19 points to 2,799.55
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +0.14% or +33.33 points to 23,537.68
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +1.66% or +139.19 points to 8,532.36
In Major Stock News, United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAL) announced that it would cut its May flight schedule by 90% with travel demand near inexistent due to the coronavirus outbreak. Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) shares increased on Thursday after the biotech reported quarterly results that surpassed analyst expectations. The company has been in focus recently due to their role in coronavirus testing. BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) also posted better-than-expected earnings, raising its stock shares on Thursday. Co-Diagnostics (NASDAQ: CODX) shares rose due to the biotech announcing that its COVID-19 saliva test was validated by a certified laboratory. Vanda Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VNDA) announced that it has enrolled its first human patient trail for a COVID-19 treatment, involving 300 patients.
In Stock Sector News, sectors were mixed at the end of Thursday's session as market participants weighed economic and coronavirus pandemic data. The half that posted performance gains include Health Care +2.20%, Consumer Discretionary +1.94%, Information Technology +1.24%, Consumer Staples +0.80%, Communication Services +0.43% and Utilities +0.07%. The rest that recorded negative performance include Energy -3.97%, Financials -1.73%, Industrials -0.84%, Real Estate -0.59% and Materials -0.53%.
In Commodity and Currency News, OPEC forecasted on Thursday that oil demand will drop to a 30-year low this quarter due to the coronavirus. West Texas Intermediate (NYSE: USO) ended its trading session +0.96% and Brent Crude (NYSE: BNO) +1.79%, bringing crude barrel prices between $19-$29 each. Gold (NYSE: GLD) prices fell -0.45% on Thursday, bringing the metal's price to $1,710.05. Finally, the U.S. Dollar (NYSE: UUP) increased as investors moved toward "safer" bets, with the DXY Index gaining +0.37%.
As the market moves into Friday trading, investors will be paying attention to corporate earnings including Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and The White House's economic reopening guidelines.