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Stock Market News for Apr 24, 2020

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U.S. stocks moved little in Thursday’s session, due to lack of any solid market-moving news. Investors struggled between both positive and negative news, which led to minimal change in the major benchmarks. First, an experimental antiviral drug for the novel coronavirus failed in its first randomized clinical trial.

Second, investors followed closely the development of Congress’ vote on aid for small businesses after Thursday’s session end. In addition, earnings reported by corporate giants on Apr 23 were largely mixed, which also failed to offer any direction to the market.

The three major indices — the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite — were mixed on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 23,515.26 after increasing 0.2%, the broader S&P 500 reached 2,797.80 after declining 0.05% and the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite hit 8,494.75 after decreasing 0.01%.

The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) declined 3.4% to close at 39.99 on Apr 23. Finally, advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 2.00-to-1 ratio.

Gilead’s Remdesivir Fails First Trials

Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD - Free Report) shed 4.3% after the company’s antiviral drug Remdesivir failed in its first randomized clinical trial. Scientists and investors had high hopes on the drug’s effect on COVID-19 patients.

The drug, developed by the California-based research-based biopharmaceutical company, did not improve coronavirus patients’ condition or diminish the pathogen’s presence in the bloodstream.

The clinical trial conducted in China was tested upon studied 158 patients out of 237. The drug was given to 158 and the condition of the patients was compared to the remaining 79. The draft documents were accidentally published by the World Health Organization on Apr 23.

New Home Sales Dropped in March

According to the United States Consensus Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, sales of new homes in March shed 15.4% as the coronavirus pandemic affected buyer traffic. New home sales in the country dropped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 627,000. The decline came sharply after February’s new home sales of 741,000.

Mixed Corporate Earnings on the Horizon

Of the 83 S&P 500 members that have reported first-quarter 2020 results, total earnings or aggregate net income is down -23.6% on +2.3% higher revenues, with 68.7% beating earnings per share (EPS) estimates and 66.3% beating revenue estimates. (Read more)

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Stocks That Made Headlines

LogMeIn Q1 Earnings Miss, Revenues Beat Estimates

LogMeIn recently released mixed results for first-quarter 2020, wherein the top line surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate, while the bottom line missed the same. (Read more)

Robert Half Q1 Earnings Miss, Revenues Top Estimates

Robert Half International Inc. (RHI - Free Report) reported mixed first-quarter 2020 results, with earnings missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate and revenues beating the same. (Read more)

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