U.S. stocks were in positive territory on Thursday, reversing Wednesday's rally. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 420 points to 22,453, the S&P 500 index lost 1.95% to 2,419 and the Nasdaq Composite Index retreated 2.42% to 6,395.
Shares of Kforce Inc. (KFRC, Financial) popped more than 2% on Thursday morning after the company announced on Wednesday it expects to top fourth-quarter revenue guidance of $349 million to $354 million. It also projects earnings per share of 56 cents to 58 cents.
"Further to fourth-quarter results, our government business will see only minimal impact from the government shutdown due to its concentration of business in areas of the government unaffected by any funding delays," Chairman and CEO David L. Dunkel said. "With greater than 70% of total revenues concentrated in Tech Flex, we believe we are well positioned to capitalize on the growing technology needs of our clients regardless of economic trends.”
Gainers
- Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT, Financial)
- Scana Corp. (SCG, Financial)
- L3 Technologies Inc. (LLL, Financial)
- Red Hat Inc. (RHT, Financial)
- Waters Corp. (WAT, Financial)
Losers
- Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD, Financial)
- Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN, Financial)
- Nvidia Corp.”‹ (NVDA, Financial)
- Conagra Brands Inc. (CAG, Financial)
- General Electric Co. (GE, Financial)
Global markets
The main European stock markets traded lower. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 fell 1.52%, France's CAC 40 dipped 0.60%, Germany's Dax closed down 2.37% and Spain's IBEX 35 tumbled 1.38%.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 3.88%, India’s BSE Sensex jumped 0.44%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.67% and China's Shanghai Composite slid 0.61%.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
