Benzinga | Dec 17, 2020 12:28PM EST

Mid-Day Market Update: Gold Rises 1.7%; Triterras Shares Plummet

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 (NYSE:KEP), up 12%, and Kenon Holdings Ltd (NYSE:KEN), up 4%.

In trading on Thursday, energy shares fell 0.7%.

Top Headline

Accenture plc (NYSE:CAN) 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. (NASDAQ:SCPS) 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 (NASDAQ:OCG) 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 (NASDAQ:WNW) 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 (NASDAQ:TRIT) 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 (NASDAQ:BCDA) 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. (NASDAQ:SCYX) 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.