Dow Gains Over 100 Points; US Jobless Claims Decline

U.S. stocks traded higher this morning, with the Dow Jones index gaining more than 100 points on Wednesday.

Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.28% to 48,576.79 while the NASDAQ rose 0.02% to 23,567.10. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.15% to 6,920.17.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Consumer staples shares rose by 0.6% on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, communication services stocks fell by 0.2%.

Top Headline

U.S. initial jobless claims declined by 10,000 from the previous week to 214,000 in the week ending Dec. 20, compared to market estimates of 223,000.

Equities Trading UP
           

• Sobr Safe Inc (SOBR) shares shot up 116% to $2.81.
• Shares of Multi Ways Holdings Ltd (MWG) got a boost, surging 84% to $0.46 after the company reported a year-over-year increase in H1 EPS results.
• Omeros Corp (OMER) shares were also up, gaining 73% to $15.13 after the FDA approved YARTEMLEA to treat hematopoietic stem cell transplant?associated thrombotic microangiopathy.

Equities Trading DOWN

• Picocela Inc (PCLA) shares dropped 33% to $0.24.
• Shares of Citius Pharmaceuticals Inc (CTXR) were down 31% to $0.72. Citius Pharmaceuticals (CTXR) reported better-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter.
• Sonim Technologies Inc (SONM) was down, falling 22% to $3.87.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.3% to $58.58 while gold traded up 0.3% at $4,516.90.

Silver traded up 1.3% to $72.030 on Wednesday, while copper rose 1.5% to $5.6360.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 gained 0.1%, while Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 0.1%. London's FTSE 100 fell 0.1%, Germany's DAX 40 rose 0.2% and France's CAC 40 gained 0.2% during the session.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Wednesday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 0.14%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gaining 0.17%, China's Shanghai Composite rising 0.53% and India's BSE Sensex falling 0.14%.

Economics

U.S. initial jobless claims declined by 10,000 from the previous week to 214,000 in the week ending Dec. 20, compared to market estimates of 223,000.

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