Wall Street reverses course to finish in the green, airline stocks ascend on reopening optimism

4:20pm: Nasdaq ekes out a positive finish

The Dow ended the Thursday session up 199 points, 0.6%, at 32,619 after spending a few hours below the flatline after the open. The Nasdaq ticked up 16 points, 0.1%, to 12,978, and the S&P 500 added 20 points, 0.5%, to 3,910.

Airline stocks moved skyward on coronavirus reopening optimism. American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL), Delta Air Lines Inc (NYSE:DAL) United Airlines Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UAL) and Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV) all added more than 3%.

12:50pm: GameStop continues to seesaw day to day

After spending the morning hours in the red, the Dow broke into positive territory, adding 47 points to 32,467. The Nasdaq managed to pick up 9 points to 12,971, and the S&P 500 improved 7 points to 3,897.

“Growing market scepticism has been reflected in falling Treasury yields, although the expected outperformance for growth stocks in such a scenario has done little to boost the Nasdaq,” IG Senior Market Analyst Joshua Mahony wrote Thursday. “Banking stocks provide one are of strength in a sea of pessimism, with improved jobless claims and GDP data signalling a potential upward path for rates in the coming years.”

GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME) has rebounded after Tuesday evening earnings sent the stock tumbling on Wednesday. Shares have gained more than 32% to $159.

11am: Proactive North America headlines:

Cloud Nine Web3 Technologies Inc (CSE:CNI) (OTCMKTS:CLGUF) powered Next Decentrum platform releases its Non-Fungible Tokens guide for global collectibles click here

Empress Royalty Corp (CVE:EMPR)  closes previously announced bought deal public offering raising around C$15.75 million

Alternus Energy Group PLC (NOTC:ALT)  drives continued European expansion with completion of 15MWp capacity in Romania

Plurilock Security Inc (CVE:PLUR) (OTCQB:PLCKF) inks OEM deal with Untangl to resell its cybersecurity offerings

Cardiol Therapeutics Inc (TSE:CRDL) (OTCQX:CRTPF) gets ‘Speculative Buy’ rating as Leede Jones Gable initiates coverage

Esports Entertainment Group Inc (NASDAQ:GMBL) (FRA:40Y1) inks esports partnership deal with the NFL’s Denver Broncos

American Manganese Inc (CVE:AMY) (OTCQB:AMYZF) (FRA:2AM) awarded South Korean patent for its ground-breaking battery recycling technology awarded South Korean patent for its ground-breaking battery recycling technology

Safe-T Group Ltd (NASDAQ:SFET) (TASE:SFET) partners with Philemon Security USA to distribute ZoneZero solution in North America

Vuzix Corporation (NASDAQ:VUZI) (FRA:V7XN) receives initial deployment order for its M400 Smart Glasses from healthcare and surgical training solutions provider

WeedMD Inc (CVE:WMD) (OTCQX:WDDMF) (FRA:4WE) debuts its first live resin extract product under the Pedro’s Sweet Sativa brand

Heritage Cannabis Holdings Corp (CSE:CANN) (OTCQX:HERTF) (FRA:2UE) to launch ArthroCBD soft gel capsules; CBD product applications made with VESIsorb technology in US

HempFusion Wellness Inc (TSE:CBD.U) (OTCQX:CBDHF) (FRA:8OO) completes its CBD pilot trial related to chronic inflammation

Loncor Resources Inc (TSE:LN) (OTCQX:LONCF) (FRA:LO51) drills deepest hole on Adumbi deposit, revealing significant widths and gold grades in multiple zones

Renforth Resources Inc (CSE:RFR) (OTCQB:RFHRF) (FRA:9RR) begins drilling at Victoria Nickel target

Metalla Royalty & Streaming (NYSEAMERICAN:MTA) (CVE:MTA) (FRA:X9C) bags another two royalties in Argentina and Kirkland Lake, Ontario

GR Silver Mining Ltd (CVE:GRSL) (OTCQB:GRSLF) (FRA:GPE) expands high-grade silver-gold bulk tonnage zones at Plomosas mine area ahead of resource estimate

Exro Technologies Inc (CVE:EXRO) (OTCQB:EXROF) (FRA:1O2) to commercialize system solutions with Heinzmann motor integration

TomaGold Corporation (CVE:LOT) (OTCMKTS:TOGOF) (FRA:OTM) set to begin 10,000m drill program at Obalski next month as latest assays continue to show project’s potential

NetCents Technology Inc (CSE:NC) (FRA:26N) (OTCQB:NTTCF) sees a surge in new partner sign-ups and leads

9.49am: Wall Street starts lower

The main Wall Street indices kicked off Thursday’s session in negative territory despite a sharp drop in US jobless claims last week.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.44% at 32,276 while the S&P 500 dropped 0.38% to 3,873 and the Nasdaq fell 0.6% to 12,884.

The slower start for the markets came as new US jobless claims data showed that 684,000 Americans filed for unemployment in the week to March 19, down from 781,000 the week before and the first time the figure has been below 700,000 since mid-March last year when the pandemic began to hit the US economy.

However, continuous claims painted a bleaker picture, rising to 18.9mln from 18.2mln the week before and potentially indicating that a large portion for US workers are facing long-term unemployment, which in turn could hinder their integration back into the workforce post-pandemic.

Claims also still remain above the highs seen during the 2008 financial crisis, suggesting the economic fallout of COVID-19 could be worse in the long-term than the last economic crash.

8:05am: Wall Street to make cautious start 

Wall Street is expected to open slightly lower despite positive comments on the US economy in the past couple of days of congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

Reversing early indications of a gain, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is forecast to start trading down 47 points at 32,373. The S&P 500 is expected to open 6 points lower at 3883 and the Nasdaq Composite down 16 points at 12,945.

Ahead of the open come US growth figures and weekly jobless claims, both or either of which could have an impact on which way the US market ultimately goes.

US GDP is forecast to have risen by an annualised 4.1% in the fourth quarter of last year, in line with the previous provisional estimate. Meanwhile, jobless claims are predicted to fall from 770,000 to 730,000, but these can sometimes produce a surprise.

Three things to watch for on Thursday:

• The earnings calendar for Thursday is looking rather thin, with the only large cap results coming from Olive Garden owner Darden Restaurants Inc (NYSE:DRI), which managed to beat estimates
• Shares in Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) could be in focus amid an ongoing boycott of western brands in China following sanctions from several nations on Communist officials accused of involvement in human rights abuses of Uyghurs in Xinjiang province
• Commodities and oil prices may also continue to attract attention as the Suez canal remains blocked by a grounded cargo tanker that became lodged there earlier this week

Story by ProactiveInvestors