Crude Oil Rises Sharply; Acuity Shares Fall After Q2 Results

U.S. stocks traded lower midway through trading, with the Dow Jones index falling more than 100 points on Thursday.

The Dow traded down 0.27% to 46,441.45 while the NASDAQ fell 0.08% to 21,823.12. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 0.06% to 6,571.55.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Real estate shares climbed by 0.8% on Thursday.

In trading on Thursday, consumer discretionary stocks fell by 1.1%.

Top Headline

Shares of Acuity Inc. (NYSE:AYI) fell around 5% on Thursday after the company reported mixed fiscal second-quarter 2026 results, as a revenue miss offset an earnings beat.

Quarterly net sales rose 4.9% year over year to $1.06 billion, falling short of the $1.09 billion consensus estimate. Adjusted earnings came in at $4.14 per share, ahead of expectations of $4.06.

Equities Trading UP
           

• Sky Quarry Inc (NASDAQ:SKYQ) shares shot up 67% to $4.23 after the company announced that it’s in discussions with crude oil companies in Nevada about increasing local production that could supply its Foreland Refinery.
• Shares of Cocrystal Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:COCP) got a boost, surging 43% to $1.46 after the company announced that it has received Fast Track designation from the FDA for its CDI-988, the first oral antiviral candidate being developed for treatment and prophylaxis of norovirus infection.
• Penguin Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:PENG) shares were also up, gaining 13% to $20.63 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results and raised its FY26 guidance.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Lipocine Inc (NASDAQ:LPCN) shares dropped 79% to $1.96. Lipocine’s LPCN 1154 missed Phase 3 primary endpoint in postpartum depression.
• Shares of Alto Neuroscience Inc (NYSE:ANRO) were down 7% to $21.83 after the company announced topline data from its Phase 2 proof-of-concept clinical trial evaluating ALTO-101 did not achieve statistical significant on primary electroencephalography or cognitive endpoints versus placebo.
• Quhuo Ltd – ADR (NASDAQ:QH) was down, falling 12% to $0.095. Quhuo received staff delisting determination letter from Nasdaq.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 10.7% to $110.83 while gold traded down 2.2% at $4,705.50.

Silver traded down 4.7% to $72.485 on Thursday, while copper fell 0.6% to $5.6115.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.16%, while Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 0.36%. London's FTSE 100 gained 0.85%, Germany's DAX dipped 0.73% and France's CAC 40 fell 0.12% during the session.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Thursday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 2.38%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index falling 0.70%, China's Shanghai Composite falling 0.74% and India's BSE Sensex gaining 0.25%.

Economics

• U.S. initial jobless claims declined by 9,000 to 202,000 in the fourth week of March, compared to market estimates of 212,000.
• The U.S. goods trade deficit increased to $83.5 billion in February versus a revised $80.9 billion in the prior month.

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