Nasdaq Jumps 100 Points, US Initial Jobless Claims Decline

U.S. stocks traded higher toward the end of trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining around 100 points on Thursday.

The Dow traded up 0.55% to 42,557.62 while the NASDAQ rose 0.52% to 19,492.93. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.46% to 5,899.14.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares rose by 1.3% on Thursday.

In trading on Thursday, energy shares fell by 0.8%.

Top Headline

U.S. initial jobless claims declined by 22,000 to 220,000 in the first week of December, compared to market estimates of 230,000.

Equities Trading UP
                       

• Omeros Corporation (OMER) shares shot up 39% to $10.38 after the company's Narsoplimab met pivotal trial primary endpoint.
• Shares of Trio Petroleum Corp. (TPET) got a boost, surging 100% to $1.6500 after the company announced it will acquire the oil and gas assets in a heavy oil region of Saskatchewan, Canada for approximately $1.4 million.
• Bio-Path Holdings, Inc. (BPTH) shares were also up, gaining 162% to $1.7501 after the company announced preclinical testing of BP1001-A as a potential treatment for obesity in Type 2 diabetes patients by enhancing insulin sensitivity.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Snow Lake Resources Ltd. (LITM) shares dropped 63% to $0.3101 as the company reported the pricing of public offering.
• Shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (LW) were down 23% to $60.49 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q2 earnings and lowered FY25 outlook.
• Micron Technology, Inc. (MU) was down, falling 17% to $86.66. Micron posted better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter, while sales missed expectations. The company said it sees second-quarter revenue of $7.9 billion, plus or minus $200 million, versus estimates of $9 billion. The company expects second-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.43 per share, plus or minus 10 cents per share, versus estimates of $1.92 per share.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 1% to $69.89 while gold traded down 1.5% at $2,614.90.

Silver traded down 4% to $29.540 on Thursday, while copper fell 1.8% to $4.0835.

Euro zone

European shares closed lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 dipped 1.51%, Germany's DAX fell 1.35% and France's CAC 40 declined 1.22%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 1.53%, while London's FTSE 100 fell 1.14%.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed lower on Thursday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 0.69%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index falling 0.56%, China's Shanghai Composite Index declining 0.36% and India's BSE Sensex falling 1.20%.

Economics

• The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index dipped to -16.4 in December compared to -5.5 in November and down from market expectations of 3.
• The U.S. economy grew by an annualized rate of 3.1% in the third quarter compared to 2.8% in the second estimate and up from 3% in the previous quarter.
• U.S. existing home sales gained by 4.8% from the previous month to an annualized rate of 4.15 million in November.
• U.S. initial jobless claims declined by 22,000 to 220,000 in the first week of December, compared to market estimates of 230,000.
• The Kansas City Fed's Manufacturing Production Index declined by one point to a reading of -5 in December.
• U.S. natural-gas supplies fell 125 billion cubic feet during the week ending Dec. 13.

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