The U.S. stock market jumped in morning trading Thursday, with investors waiting for the Federal Reserve's release of the minutes from its recent meeting at 2 p.m. Eastern time. At the last meeting, the Fed raised the target range for its benchmark policy rate to a range of 1.75% to 2%. Now, the market expects four rate increases in 2018.
Shares of Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (CLNE, Financial) plummeted almost 18% after Raymond James analyst Pavel Molchanov turned bearish. While the stock skyrocketed after the announcement of a strategic partnership with Total S.A. (TOT, Financial), the analyst cut his rating to “underperform” from "market perform." Despite the fall, the stock has climbed approximately 43% so far this year.
Gainers
- Qorvo Inc. (QRVO, Financial)
- Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM, Financial)
- Kellogg Co. (K, Financial)
- Nordstrom Inc. (JWN, Financial)
Losers
- CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF, Financial)
- Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC, Financial)
- Albemarle Corp. (ALB, Financial)
- L Brands Inc. (LB, Financial)
- Under Armour Inc. (UA, Financial)
Global markets
The main European stock markets traded in positive territory. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 advanced 0.40%, France's CAC 40 gained 0.86%, Spain's Ibex 35 climbed 1.05% and Germany's Dax rose 1.12%.
In Asia, markets closed in negative territory. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.78%, India’s BSE Sensex lost 0.20%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng retreated 0.21% and China's Shanghai Composite slid 0.91%.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
