Dow Surges Over 300 Points; US Initial Jobless Claims Decline

U.S. stocks traded higher this morning, with the Dow Jones index gaining more than 300 points on Thursday.

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.80% to 42,882.77 while the NASDAQ rose 0.84% to 19,472.63. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.75% to 5,926.73.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares rose by 1.5% on Thursday.

In trading on Thursday, real estate shares fell by 0.2%.

Top Headline

U.S. initial jobless claims fell by 9,000 from the previous week to a reading of 211,000 in the final week of 2024, and versus market estimates of 222,000.

Equities Trading UP
                       

• Carmell Corporation (CTCX) shares shot up 274% to $1.0499 after the company announced an agreement to acquire Elevai Skincare.
• Shares of N2OFF, Inc. (NITO) got a boost, surging 174% to $0.6802 after the company announced its joint venture with Soltera Renewable Energy obtained approval for a 111 MWp solar PV project in Meltz, Germany.
• Crown LNG Holdings Limited (CGBS) shares were also up, gaining 127% to $0.9200.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Neumora Therapeutics, Inc. (NMRA) shares dropped 80% to $2.1650 after the company announced its Phase 3 KOASTAL study did not demonstrate statistically significant improvement on its primary endpoint.
• Shares of Baird Medical Investment Holdings Limited (BDMD) were down 44% to $4.28.
• Sidus Space, Inc. (SIDU) was down, falling 34% to $3.25.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2.4% to $73.42 while gold traded up 0.7% at $2,658.80.

Silver traded up 1.8% to $29.755 on Thursday, while copper fell 0.3% to $4.0130.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 0.3%, Germany's DAX 40 gained 0.3% and France's CAC 40 fell 0.2%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 0.2%, while London's FTSE 100 rose 0.9%.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Thursday, with China's Shanghai Composite Index falling 2.66%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dipping 2.18% and India's BSE Sensex gaining 1.83%.

Economics

• U.S. initial jobless claims fell by 9,000 from the previous week to a reading of 211,000 in the final week of 2024, and versus market estimates of 222,000.
• The S&P Global manufacturing PMI declined to 49.4 in December compared to 49.7 in the prior month, and versus a revised preliminary reading of 48.3.

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