Moderna experienced a 10% decline on Thursday morning following a 177% surge on Wednesday, which was driven by promising clinical trial results for a melanoma cancer vaccine developed in partnership with Merck. Market analysts attributed Thursday's downward pressure to profit-taking activity.
Cryptocurrency equities and digital assets recorded substantial gains on Thursday. The upward movement followed an appeal by President Donald Trump for comprehensive congressional cryptocurrency legislation. Bitcoin surged over 9% to approximately $71,000, reaching its strongest level since June 2. Additional momentum came from the U.S. Treasury Department's announcement to expand planned repurchases of longer-maturity Treasury securities to at least $4 billion per transaction.
Among crypto-related equities, Coinbase advanced 8%, Robinhood climbed 5.8%, and Strategy registered a 10% increase. Circle Internet Group rose 5%, while Riot Platforms and Mara Holdings both posted gains between 3% and 5%.
In traditional equities, Walmart shares tumbled 6.1%. The decline occurred despite the company increasing its full-year projections, because the revised outlook still failed to meet Wall Street consensus estimates. Alibaba retreated 1.9% after its fiscal first-quarter results missed forecasts, despite reporting robust artificial intelligence revenue expansion.
Webull surged 14% after disclosing record-breaking second-quarter revenue of $198.8 million, which surpassed analyst projections of $180.7 million and represented a 51% annual growth rate. Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical advanced 12% following FDA accelerated approval for Genglycos, its gene therapy for glycogen storage disease.
Conversely, Wolfspeed declined 10% after reporting an adjusted quarterly loss of $2.26 per share, exceeding the consensus forecast of a $1.47 loss. Coty dropped between 9% and 10% following a larger-than-anticipated loss and projections of declining revenue and adjusted gross margins for the upcoming quarter. Deere gained 1.2% after reporting fiscal third-quarter financial results that beat expectations.
Index futures faced headwinds as escalating Middle Eastern geopolitical tensions pushed Brent crude oil prices above $92 per barrel, keeping inflation anxieties active among market participants.
